


This is why coffee is always a good idea

by Gemmie_Bear



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Actor Derek Hale, Blood, Blood and Injury, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, First Dates, Graphic Description of Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Saving One Another, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 01:53:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 45,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11243889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemmie_Bear/pseuds/Gemmie_Bear
Summary: Stiles needs help a few days after moving to LA, and happens to run into a a very famous (and very handsome) Derek Hale, who she helps in return!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my second fanfic, and I will be updating at least once a week, every Monday, if not more often. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!
> 
> x

‘Fuck fuck fuck’. Every time Stiles turned around, that dude had gotten closer and closer, still shouting awful demeaning things to her, trying to get her attention.

“I bet you look so sweet and sexy under that skirt, girl!”

“I can’t wait to fuck that pretty little mouth of yours!”

“Hey sexy, I’m still talking to you! Let me give you a ride!”

She almost turned around and asked if his ride was his dick, to say she might need something bigger than a baby carrot to get off on, but she decided against it and instead started searching through the crowd for someone, anyone, who would be able to help. This guy had been following her for over 10 minutes, and apart from the looks other passers-by had given him, he didn’t stop following her and no one else had helped her. She spotted a tall guy, by the looks of those shoulders straining his shirt, he was built. Perfect. She raced towards him, dodging people as she went, ever aware of the guy behind her, still trying to get her attention.

“Listen,” she didn’t even look up at the guy when she reached him, she just matched his pace and threw herself into her explanation. “I am so incredibly sorry but I need help and that guy has been following me for so long and I am actually terrified and I have no idea where to go because I don’t actually live here and I just need him to leave me alone.” She took a deep breath as she looked up at her saviour, and immediately wanted to die.

“Oh my god. It’s you. I am so sorry! I’ll go – “

Just as she tried to walk away, he grabbed her hand, and pulled her so hard she almost crashed right into his chest, and he placed his arm around her waist, holding her close (and, to be perfectly honest, up).

“Yo, dude, that’s mine, ok?” Creep had caught up with her, and saw she was with someone else.

Stiles’ knight in shining armour smiled at the quite obviously inebriated (still no excuse) man, and looked down to Stiles’ face. “Sorry,” He said, looking up again, “I think she is mine, and has been for a while. Good luck looking for whatever it is you want though!” He turned himself, and Stiles, around and started walking away from the creep.

Stiles had yet to find her voice.

She felt him laughing, as he still had his arm around her waist.

She looked up his face, hopefully (although probably not) looking like the most gorgeous moron he had ever seen, with her wide eyes and open mouth.  This, right here, was definitely why she was still single.

He looked down as he stopped walking, slowly releasing Stiles when he was sure she wouldn’t fall.

“Hi.” He shot her an incredible smile, and she responded by blushing and swallowing loudly.

“Um. Hi. Hey.”

He laughed, the corners of his eyes screwing up, “You seemed so talkative back there, where did that girl go?” He was still smiling at her, and he didn’t seem at all put out.

“Uh, well, that was before I knew I was talking to you. Derek. Hale. Derek Hale.”

He laughed again. “Thanks, I’d almost forgotten my name today, thanks for reminding me!”

She blushed again and looked down.

“I am sorry, I’m sure you have better things to do than save people who can’t save themselves.”

Even she knew she sounded stupid, but that didn’t matter.

“Hey,” he reached out and lifted her head by her chin. “I will never feel bad for helping someone who needs it. You were frightened and I’m glad that in all of the people you saw, you came to me.”

She had looked up into his eyes, pretty sure the only reason she was still standing was because of his finger still sitting gently under her chin.

“I’d like to buy you a cup of coffee.”

He looked like he had asked her the time, not to spend more time with him, and that had her so confused she narrowed her eyes to look at him, as if it would show a different reality, the real reality, where he was angry for her bothering him.

“You. You want to take me out. For coffee?”

“For coffee.” He nodded.

“Me?”

“Yes. Please.”

That stupid smile was just growing on his face. And she had no idea what to make of it.

“But, I don’t understand, I make you go out of your way to help me, and now you want to take me for coffee?”

He rolled his eyes in good nature, and put out his hand for her to take.

“Please, woman who’s name I still don’t know. Would you please let me buy you a coffee so I can get to know you?”

She looked from his eyes to his hand, and then back once more before sliding her hand into his and whispering “ok.”


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, they didn’t hold hands for as long as Stiles would have liked (forever), but they spoke the entire time they walked.

“So, what’s your name?” He looked at her and smiled.

“Oh, yeah, Stilinski! Um, Stiles!”

“Your name is Stilinksi?” He looked at her with mild confusion, while she blushed.

“No, Stiles is my name, surname Stilinksi.” She looked out of the corner of her eye at him, and caught him looking at her. It really should not have made her insides melt as much as they did.

“Well, I’m hoping you will be try to forget whatever you have read or heard about me, and we can get to know each other at the same pace?” He watched her as she laughed.

“Yeah, ok, sure!” She rolled her eyes at herself, not aware that he was watching her, but still not being able to understand how the hell she had gotten here.

He soon guided her into a small coffee shop, asking what she wanted to drink, and telling her to find a seat.

“Latte please, no funny flavours!” She called over her shoulder, walking away, feeling more at home in a coffee shop that anyone had the right to. Coffee always calmed her down, well, maybe except for the times it didn’t, but whatever. She picked a cosy booth toward the back of the shop, and sat down facing the door, leaving the seat facing away from the window for Derek.

‘Holy hell I’m about to have coffee with Derek Hale. What the hell?!’ She could barely believe her luck at all!  
She sat looking out of the window until she saw Derek come up from the corner of her eye, and she looked at him and smiled.

“Thank you, I really am sorry I bothered you.” She sounded so calm, which made her feel so much more at ease, maybe she wouldn’t embarrass herself more.

“Stiles, I told you it's fine. I’m glad I could help.”

“Sure, but I still disturbed you. You were obviously heading somewhere and now, well, you aren’t.” She gestured at him sitting next to her in the booth, making him smirk.

“Yes, you disturbed such an important day, it’s not every day I can just walk through the streets, enjoying the fresh air!” He sat back as the waitress brought their drinks and,

“Oh god, did you also buy me a croissant?”

She looked up at Derek who looked slightly guilty.

“I can get you a muffin if you would prefer?” He looked down at her fingers picking up the croissant, and she responded by gracefully (read: greedily) shoving it in her mouth for a bite. Nice.

Thankfully he laughed and then picked his croissant up with his fingers too, and she smiled between mouthfuls.

“Holy crap this is amazing,” she said while dusting her mouth off with a napkin.

She grabbed her coffee and looked over to him, and noticed the 3 teenage girls at the front, casting looks his way.

“Here,” she grabbed the menu from the table beside them and passed it to Derek, who didn’t ask questions.

He opened it and pulled it closer to his face as if he couldn’t read it, and Stiles smiled. She looked up, and saw the girls had finished placing their order, still glancing this way, but they wouldn’t come over if they weren’t sure it was Derek, right?

“Stiles, who are you glaring at?”

Stiles stuttered, not able to get a reply out, which only had Derek laughing again, before Stiles could gather her scattered brain cells.

“No, no, not glaring, I was observing! My dad is a sheriff you know, it’s like second nature to me now!”

She waved her hand around in the air in front of her face, as if it helped make her point any better. It did not, of course.

She took one look at Derek trying so hard not to laugh at her again that she burst out in laughter, soon joined by Derek’s laugh too.

Derek composed himself and took a look over the menu to the front of the store, hoping to see that no one was watching them anymore, which proved to be the case. He grabbed Stiles’ hand, and pulled her to her feet. Her eyes went wide as she was pulled closer to him again.

“Let’s go for a walk, I get the feeling we could both use the exercise.”

He started walking away from her, and all Stiles could do for a moment was look at the way his back muscles moved under his shirt, thinking ‘yeeeeah, you definitely need more exercise…’ She rolled her eyes again, grabbing her bag and followed him outside into the street, falling into step beside him, smiling up at him as they walked.

***

They had walked around for hours, stopping now and then for ice cream from here or there, grabbing chocolate from a place Derek raved about, and they spoke about small things like where they went to school, what Stiles was planning on studying, and Derek’s up and coming roles.

Before they knew it, it was nearing 3pm, almost 5 hours since she had run up to him to get away from Creep.

“Stiles?”

“Yeah?” She looked up at him, and stopped when he did.

“Can I please take you out for dinner tonight?”

Stiles’ brain slowed down a little, while her heart almost leapt out of her chest.

“Seriously?” She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, biting on her lip.

“Yes, please, I have had a really great afternoon with you, I hope that’s not too forward.” His eyebrows were trying to convey some sort of message, moving in a way that Stiles couldn't replicate if she tried everyday, for the rest of her life.

She giggled out a ‘no’, before adding, “I’d love to.”

His smile was blinding, which made Stiles' insides turn to goo. Seriously, at this rate, her tombstone would read "Here lies Stiles Stilinski; the first (and only) internally liquefied human. Seep in peace." 

“Ok, where are you staying?”

Stiles looked up and down the street, realizing she didn’t know where they were.

“Uh, the Beverly Wilshire?”

His eyes grew wide for a moment, before he got his expression under control, but not before Stiles noted the reaction.

“Why do you look embarrassed by that?” He was right, she had blushed slightly, and had averted her gaze.

“I don’t know, it’s such a fancy hotel, I don’t exactly fit in there.” To solidify her comment, she waved down at herself, but Derek couldn't see what she meant.

“Well, let’s get a taxi back, I don’t stay too far from there, and then I’ll fetch you later, say 8?”

She hoped to god she wasn’t gonna wake up and have dreamt up this whole thing.

She nodded and watched as he hailed a cab, climbing in when he opened the door. He sat close to her, his arm brushing against her, and she so desperately wanted to hold his hand again, so she held her own damn hand to stop her from doing something stupid.

They sat in a comfortable silence for the apparently short trip back to her hotel, and smiled at one another when they caught the other looking.

When the cab pulled up outside the Beverly, Stiles jumped out, turning around to talk to Derek through the open window, but he was almost out of the car. He pulled her into a hug, kissed her cheek and said he would be waiting here at 8.

She walked inside, looking over her shoulder only once to smile and wave before she was hidden from view in the building.


	3. Chapter 3

There weren’t many times Stiles wanted to bash her brains out on a door handle, but she did after she took a long shower had no idea what kind of outfit she should be wearing tonight. Jesus, she was in LA, it could literally be anything! She padded around her hotel room in her towel, cursing herself for not getting his number. “Yeah, that’s not weird. Hey Derek, can I have your number?" She pulled faces into the empty room, not entirely sure WHY she couldn’t have his number, technically he had asked her out. Twice. Ok, so maybe this wasn’t even a date, but she wasn’t gonna get picky!

She reached out for the telephone and dialled the front desk.

“Hello?”

“Ms Stilinski, how may I help you?”

Stiles felt odd when they addressed her so formally.

“Uh, yeah, I’m not sure if you can help, actually.” She regretted not thinking this call through.

“I’m sure your request, whatever it is, will be possible. What can I do for you?”

“I need a hair straightener, and I kind of need it, like, now.” She looked at the bedside clock, 6:05pm. Damn her for lazing out on the bed when she got back, but she couldn’t get Derek out of her head!

“Ma’am, may I take this opportunity to remind you that your package includes the use of the spa and salon in the hotel?”

No. Stiles was _pretty_ sure she hadn’t paid for that.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes ma’am, it’s all included. Would you like me to send up a concierge to guide you to the salon?”

“Um, please! Thank you!”

“It is really no problem Ms Stilinski, thank you.”

Stiles put the phone down and grabbed a pair of jeans, a plain shirt and her grey converse; she would have to decide what to wear when she was back from the salon. The salon? She couldn’t understand how she had access, but hey, she was pretty desperate. Someone knocked on the door, and Stiles grabbed her phone before going out to meet the concierge.

“Good evening Ms Stilinski, I have been informed I should deliver you to the salon, is that still fine?”

“Yes, thank you.” She smiled at – she looked at his name tag – Andrew and pulled her door shut, hearing it lock.

“Please, take a seat.”

She turned around, and the dude had brought a freaking golf cart to fetch her. She laughed and sat at the back, not caring how childish she might look to anyone they could pass. He drove her up and down a few hallways, got into an elevator, golf cart and all, before the doors opened and a gorgeous salon awaited her.

“Ms Stilinski?” A beautiful woman walked towards Stiles, nodding at Andrew who bid Stiles goodnight. “How can we help you tonight?”

Stiles smiled, honestly not believing her day.

“So, I’m going out with someone I kind of want to impress? But I don’t have a straightener,” she pulled at her hair to make a point. It always dried in an awful frizzy mess that she hadn’t learned to control.

The woman smiled, and waved Stiles toward a chair in front of a mirror, “What about loose curls?” She asked, while running her fingers through Stiles’ hair.

“Yeah, ok! That sounds nice!” Stiles settled on the comfortable chair as a towel was draped over her shoulders, and the woman (Stiles should have asked her name, oops) began to put hot curlers in her hair.

Just as Stiles was starting to let her mind wander to tonight, with a shy smile look on her face, another woman crouched next to her, “Would you like your nails done? Your makeup?” Stiles looked at her nails, and then her face in the mirror.

“Please! I want it to look natural though, I don’t want to look, you know, too done up?”

“Absolutely, and your nails?”

“Yes please,” Stiles felt quite embarrassed at the state of her nails, she had arrived in LA 5 days ago, and her nail polish was chipped and faded.

“Any colour requests?”

“Can I please see your gold colours?”

The women around her smiled as they bustled to get her ready in time. 

***

Stiles could not stop smiling when she was finished, she felt beautiful. Her hair, falling in perfectly loose, shiny curls around her shoulders, her makeup just dramatic enough for night-time, and she felt overwhelmed by the sensation of feeling so well put together.

“Are you happy?”

That beautiful woman was standing behind her, looking at Stiles in her reflection too.

“Yes, thank you so much, this has been amazing!”

The woman laughed, “well, you better get going, if you still want to change your clothes like you mentioned. Its 7:30.”

“Shit, oops!” Stiles’ hand shot up to her mouth, “thank you!”

“It’s not a problem, Andrew will take you back to your room, have a great evening Stiles!”

Stiles waved as she walked to the elevator, the doors opening to show Andrew and his glorious golf cart.

“Thank you again!” Stiles shouted as the doors started closing.

After Andrew dropped her back at her room, she rushed inside, having had an hour and a half to decide on an outfit. She threw off her clothes, grabbed her best blue skinny jeans, a black lace top, and her black pumps. She also grabbed her black leather jacket from the wardrobe, not sure if she would need it or not. As she was taking a moment to collect her thoughts, someone knocked on the door, which she went to open. It was Andrew again.

“Ms Stilinski? A Mr Hale is waiting downstairs, and asked me to come inform you.”

Stiles looked at her phone, it was only 7:50, so she wasn’t late, he was just impatient, which she relished!

“Thank you!” She ran back into her room, and grabbed her purse and jacket, before running back out and closing her door. She turned and saw Andrew waiting for her, in his golf cart, so she hopped in the front and let him take her to the lobby. Andrew, however, had a different idea, and stopped the cart a little ways away from the lobby, so Stiles thanked him and walked through the doors, seeing Derek smiling from ear to ear when he saw her. She blushed and dipped her head, covering her mouth to hide her girlish giggles.

“Stiles, you look gorgeous.” Stiles looked up and thought the same thing of Derek, who held out his arm for Stiles to take, and they walked out the building arm in arm.


	4. Chapter 4

Derek kept looking down at Stiles as they exited the Beverly, and she smiled each and every time. He dropped his arm, instead catching Stiles’ hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

“So, where are we going?” She couldn’t stop the smile that was most likely splitting her face, but Derek. Freaking. Hale. Was holding her hand! How could she not? She wanted to run through the streets screaming!

“Well, I was thinking of something understated, but you look so beautiful, maybe I should take you out somewhere instead?”

She laughed, “No, I’d love a private dinner! I only had my makeup and hair done because of some mix… up… Oh my god it was you.” She stopped walking, staring at Derek who had an awfully guilty smile on his face.

“Oh my god you did!”

“Stiles, I’m sorry, I just, I wanted to do something nice for you, you said you didn’t feel like you fit in there, I thought the pampering would help.” He was looking down at this point, and Stiles kind of wanted to kiss him, hit him or laugh. Maybe all 3.

“Derek, how the hell did you arrange it?” Surely he didn’t know which room she was staying in.

“Ok, uh, don’t be mad though, ok? My sister is the hotel manager. Well, one of them, Laura. My other sister- “

The hot brunette in the salon, Stiles immediately somehow knew.

“- Cora, owns the salon in the hotel.”

Hmm. She wasn’t sure if she should be this proud that she had a good taste for the Hale family; it’s kind of awkward in a way.

“And you arranged it. For me.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry if that upsets you, but you did use it so it’s not that bad, right?” Stiles laughed, which made him look even more concerned, which she immediately tried to fix by putting a hand up to his cheek, and gently tracing her fingertips against his beard.

“Thank you.” She gazed into his eyes and smiled, “I really did enjoy myself, I was just surprised you would do something like that, considering we just met.”

“Stiles, I took you for coffee because I wanted to get to know you, and now I’m taking you out to dinner because I need to know more about you, you interest me in a way that I normally don’t feel interested.”

If Stiles said that his comment didn’t go straight to her head (and heart), she would be lying.

“You’re a sneaky, sneaky man, you know that right?”

Derek just laughed, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers again, before pulling her along.

They walked, hand in hand, a few more blocks, before they came to an empty bistro, dark and quiet, until around a screen, Stiles saw the solitary table set outside, with candles and roses, overlooking the lights in the city below.

“It’s beautiful,” Stiles said, looking at the view for a few moments before turning back to Derek who as looking at her again.

He smiled at her. “Absolutely breath taking.”

She blushed, dipping her head to hide her red cheeks, but Derek placed his fingers under her chin and pulled her face up gently, making her look into his eyes.

“Don’t hide from me, you don’t need to.”

Seconds passed in silence, the air between them became charged, both staring at each other, until Derek slowly moved towards Stiles, tilting her face a little more before their lips met. His lips were soft and gentle, and Stiles had only a moment to savour the feeling before he pulled away, and he leaned his forehead against hers. She sighed, and Derek pulled away and looked at her, “Was that ok?”

“Are you asking if the kiss was ok?” she chuckled slightly.

“Actually, I was asking if it was ok that I kissed you in general.”

Stiles took a step forward, grabbing both of his hands, and placed them on her waist, before she put her arms around his neck, taking a moment to look at him before she kissed him back. His arms snaked around her waist entirely, holding her tight against him, forcing her up onto her toes, but he held her weight just fine, deepening the kiss when he licked at her lips gently, making her moan as she opened her lips for him.

A cool gust of air brushed past them, tangling up Stiles’ hair and they pulled away laughing, both taking Stiles’ stray and wind-swept hair from their mouths. Derek grabbed her hand again, and guided her towards the table, letting her sit down before he pulled his chair closer to hers, sitting so close their shoulders were touching. How they were going to eat, Stiles wasn’t sure, but she was also well aware that right now, she didn’t care if she ever ate again, as long as she and Derek never had to move away from one another.  

She looked around, wondering if they had a waiter, just as Derek moved to grab something from under the table. She looked at him while he pulled out a basket, and she laughed.

“Are we having a picnic?” Her eyes gleamed in the candle light, and Derek just focused on remembering how she looks, right now, for a couple of seconds before answering.

“Well, kind of. My friends owns this place, and I knew I wanted to do something lowkey. He offered me his keys, and the use of the kitchen I suppose, but I can’t cook for shit, so he made us a platter, and this way, I can still hopefully wow you with my planning skills?” He smiled at her, a big goofy smile, and she couldn’t help but throw her head back and laugh.

“Yes, I think you can officially consider me impressed, blown over and utterly astounded.”

Her heart skipped a beat when he threw her his most dazzling smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that evening, after feeding each other tiny and delicious canapes, Derek and Stiles took a walk through the park close to the bistro, enjoying the cool air and each other’s warm hands. Neither wanted the evening to end, even though it was getting cold and late.

“Stiles, would you think less of me if I asked you to come back to my place? We can watch a movie, I promise that’s all I want, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me asking that.” Derek looked at Stiles from the corner of his eye, unable to fully make eye contact.

Stiles hesitated. “Where do you stay?” she asked after a moment.

“I live up Rodeo Drive, literally up the road from your hotel. I completely understand if you say no, and I hope you will still let me take you out tomorrow if you don’t want to come over.”

Stiles continued walking, feeling Derek’s presence at her side, close but not touching her.

“Can I be honest Derek?” She stopped and looked at him, grabbing at his arm to keep him close.

He nodded, “of course.”

“I’m kind of nervous to do that, but I don’t mind if we go back to my hotel room for a movie?”

He smiled and nodded again, “That’s perfect too, whatever makes you more comfortable.” They grabbed a taxi and headed to the Beverly, walking in, hand in hand.

“Derek!” He spun around, and immediately swept the gorgeous woman behind them into a hug, lifting her off her feet while she giggled. Stiles looked away, feeling her resentment and jealousy at this woman who was so much more beautiful than her, who had Derek’s undivided attention, before the woman looked over Derek’s shoulder, patting him to let her down, and she approached Stiles.

“Ms Stilinski?”

Stiles nodded, confused and not trusting her voice.

“It’s great to meet you, I’m Laura, the hotel manager, and Derek’s older sister.” She smiled warmly at Stiles, who immediately felt like a fool, and could totally see the resemblance between Derek and Laura. ‘Great, another hot Hale…’ She laughed as she greeted Laura, “it’s great to meet you too, I hear I have you to also thank for my salon pampering this afternoon.”

Laura turned around and smacked Derek on the chest, who at least had the decency to pretend it hurt.

“Derek, you weren’t meant to tell her!”

“Excuse me, I did not choose to tell her, she made me feel awful first!” Derek winked at Stiles as he said it, making her blush and almost laugh.

It was at this point that Stiles suddenly realised what this must look like to Laura, Stiles taking Derek up to her room, and wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. She must have looked suddenly ill, because Derek became worried and grabbed her arm.

“Stiles, are you alright?”

She nodded, not convincing Derek at all. He took her hand, before kissing Laura on the cheek and guided Stiles towards the elevator, still holding her hand as the door closed behind them. He turned towards her, a worried look still in his eyes.

“Is everything ok?”

“Well, no, I just met your sister, who is also gorgeous, by the way, and she saw you come with me and this is her hotel and I stay here and I am taking you to my room and you know what she must think of me!” 'Yay, everyone loves word vomit!' Stiles hid her face in her hands, before Derek grabbed her wrists and pulled them away.

“Firstly, you taking me to your room has nothing to do with my sister, and she knows better than to ever mention it. Secondly, I very much doubt she cares what I do in my spare time.”

“Or who?” Stiles couldn’t help it; the opportunity was there!

He laughed, “yes, or who. Also, more importantly, should I be worried you think my sister is attractive?” The playful glint in his eye showed Stiles he wasn’t bothered, so she wanted to make sure he knew JUST what kind of issue the Hale family was presenting to her.

“Hey, I also met your other sister today, Kara?”

“Cora.”

“Yes, Cora, and she too is stunning. So, I don’t know what your mother fed you guys, but you need to package it and sell it, and you'd make a fortune! I would buy that in a heartbeat!”

Derek laughed and kissed Stiles on her forehead.

“You, Stiles, are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. You could wear a rubbish bag, and you would still outshine every woman out there.”

Stiles dropped her head onto his chest, feeling the now familiar blush to her face, once again not believing that this was Derek Hale she was talking to. Who for some reason liked her? He even liked her face!

He kissed the top of her head just as the doors opened, and he grabbed her hand, waiting for her to look at him, before he led her out the elevator, and then let her lead him to her room.


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles became more nervous as they approached her room, her hands shaking slightly as she tried to swipe her access card to open the room. Derek waited patiently for her to get the door unlocked, and when he heard the distinctive unlocking click, he put his arms around Stiles’ waist, pulling her back against his chest, and walked her into the room. She put her head back on his chest, looking up at him while trusting him to not let her walk into anything.

He used his foot to shut the door, and Stiles shook off his arms before removing her jacket, which hadn’t kept her too warm.

“Derek, will you find a movie while I have a shower? I’m really cold.”

“Of course,” he sat on the bed, grabbed the phone and called someone, Stiles looking quizzically at him.

“Laura? Hey, do me a favour? Please unlock the Netflix access to this room? Thanks, love you too.”

Stiles smiled as she shook her head slightly, going towards the bathroom, and using the doorframe to lean against as she toed off her pumps, before entering the bathroom. She loved the bathroom here, it was so spacious and bright, everything her old bathroom at home was not. She decided to run a bath, throwing some bubbles in for the extra relaxation. She went back into the room, looking at Derek who was now laying on her bed, flicking through Netflix, before he looked at her and smiled.

“Thought you were going for a shower?”

“I am, well, I wanted a bath instead, but I came for my pjs.” She began rummaging through her bag, trying to find something she wouldn’t mind Derek seeing, which didn’t leave a lot of choice. She had packed her favourite comfy pjs, a super soft but super old shirt, and a pair of hot shorts that she REALLY wouldn’t be wearing in front of him. The only other option was the black and cream negligee. She hesitated with it in her hands, still in her bag.

“Stiles?”

She looked over at him. “My pjs aren’t exactly suited for a sleepover. Um, movie date. Thing.” She looked back down at the negligee hidden in her bag.

“There will be a robe in the bathroom? You can always wear it over your pjs?”

She took a deep breath of relief and nodded, “oh yeah, I forgot about that. Thanks.” She quickly bundled up the negligee and hurried to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and stripping off as fast as she could and all but jumping into the hot water, a content sigh leaving her as the water warmed her body.

She didn’t waste too much time in the bath, keeping her hair up and dry, before she started draining the tub and dried off on the fluffy towels. She took some time to rub cream into her skin, before putting on the negligee, and then rushing for the robe, watching her reflections’ cheeks turn red at the thought of laying next to Derek, hiding the negligee under her robe. She braided her hair, removed her makeup, and went back into the room.

“You look warmer,” Derek said, sitting on the edge of the bed now.

“Yeah, sorry it took so long.”

“You didn’t take long, don’t worry. I found a movie, you ready?” She nodded and climbed onto the bed, watching Derek shuffle backwards until his back was against the head board, and he was sitting right next to her. He looked at her as he grabbed her hand, and said, "I also ordered some room service," he pointed at the trolley next to her side of the bed that she had not noticed. "There's popcorn, chocolate and a cheese platter, wasn't sure if you would still be hungry." He kissed her temple before pressing play. 

Stiles can’t remember what movie they watched, as she was too interested in the feeling of Derek being close to her. At some point, he lifted his arm for her and she placed her head on his chest, and then soon after she threw one of her legs over his, getting more comfortable. He traced patterns on her back on top of the robe, kissing the top of her head every now and then, until they both fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

When Stiles woke, the first thing she noticed was the warm body pressed up behind her, and the arm draped across her waist. She tried turning her head to look at Derek, but he mumbled in his sleep and pulled her closer. Which allowed her to notice one more thing that she hadn’t felt before. She smiled coyly to herself, as she ever so slightly shifted her bum to feel his erection, both through his jeans and her robe, but she could feel it none the less. She wasn’t entirely sure what to do in this situation, one, having never slept with a man, and two, having never SLEPT with a man. She wasn’t a stranger to her own body, but had never been this close to anyone else, and she felt the entire experience thrilling. She didn’t have long to enjoy the moment before Derek’s phone rang, and he startled awake, both of them shifting to their backs before he turned off his alarm.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.” He looked tired and sheepish, and Stiles wondered what he would do if she pressed a kiss to his cheek, before she remembered all the kisses he had placed on her head the night before, so she stretched towards him and kissed him, his eyes opening in surprise.

“What was that for?” He turned to his side to look at her, and she mirrored his movements.

“For staying. I had a really great time last night, thank you.”

He looked into her eyes for a moment before he leaned forward and kissed her lips, quickly, before he got up and offered to make a coffee run.

“Yes please, I’ll get dressed while you are gone.”

“That’s fine, but then can we go to my house so I can freshen up and change too?”

Stiles felt her jaw drop. She didn’t think he would want to spend the day together.

“Is that ok?” He smiled at her, a naughty smile, like he knew what she would say.

“Sure, your house!”

He laughed once more, as he leaned down, kissed her again and put his shoes on before unlocking the door and leaving.

Stiles laid in bed for a few moments, replaying last night, before she jumped up, wanting to find the perfect outfit. In the end, she chose a black semi-fitted maxi dress with sequin details across the bust and a pair of nude sandals. She had a quick shower, not wanting to miss Derek getting back, and hurriedly put her clothes on, putting a little mascara on as she heard a knock on the door. She went to open it, finding Derek outside.

“Probably should have taken the access card,” Stiles joked.

“Probably!” He beamed, before kissing her again (she could both get used to that and never get used to that!) and he passed her a takeaway cup and a small brown bag.

She looked up at him smiling, “Another croissant, right?”

He laughed, closing the door, “damnit Stiles, you aren’t supposed to guess right on the first try!” He went to sit on the balcony, drinking his coffee, while Stiles finished getting dressed, eating her croissant in the most undignified manner before Derek could see. 

When she was done, she went to let Derek know, who jumped up and grabbed his phone from by the front door, waiting for Stiles before opening up and letting them out. They walked out the Hotel hand in hand again, both waving to Laura who was dealing which a rather irate patron.

They continued out the lobby, where Derek had the doorman usher them a taxi, before they were off to Derek’s house. It really was close, maybe 2kms from her Hotel. His house was incredible; understated yet classy. Stiles immediately felt bad for saying no last night, but Derek gripped her hand tighter when he saw her looking somewhat troubled.

“I had a great time too, by the way.”

“What?” She looked at him as he unlocked the door one handed.

“Last night, going to your room. It didn’t matter to me where we went, I just wanted to spend time with you. And I had a really enjoyable evening.” He swung the door open and Stiles was awestruck. He let her enter first, closing the door, telling her to help herself to anything while he showered, and he kissed her once before darting up the stairs. Stiles stood in the front room for a moment, feeling slightly out of place, before she decided to go look through his house, and get to know him a little better.

In the lounge, she found a wall of pictures, Derek was in a lot of them, as were Laura and Cora, and another young guy, maybe he had a brother too? ‘Damn Hale genes,’ Stiles ruminated. There were also older people, perhaps his mother and father, other family members? Some pictures were taken in restaurants, some at the beach, one was in a plane. She couldn’t wait to ask him to point out who everyone was. She moved on, and found herself in the kitchen, and she immediately fell in love. The kitchen was huge, mostly white, with a large garden facing window, a breakfast nook, a giant pantry, and enough counter space she could probably cook 5 meals simultaneously and still not run out of space.

She carried on up the stairs, and peeked into the first room on the right, a study, filled with books and manuscripts of some kind; this would need more exploring later. Next, in the second room on the right, she saw a giant four poster bed, and assumed it was a guest bedroom until Derek entered from the bathroom in only a towel, still with dripping hair, which was dripping down those gorgeous abs.

Stiles immediately turned around, stuttering her apologies while Derek laughed.

“It’s fine Stiles, I did tell you to explore, just didn’t think you wanted to explore my room!”

She could hear his smile, which eased her nerves, “in my defence, I didn’t see your name on it, so it's technically your fault.” She stayed facing the opposite wall, giving him a semblance of privacy.

“Oh, I suppose you are right. I’ll have to go grab a permanent marker to write my name on everything I want,” and he pressed a kiss to her neck, almost melting her on the spot.


	8. Chapter 8

Stiles giggled after Derek let her go, and said she would be downstairs. She darted down the stairs, leaning her head against the cool wall to calm down. She could still hear Derek upstairs, so decided to look in the room that led off from the kitchen, and found herself in a large sun room, surrounded with glass walls and a domed glass ceiling. The suns’ rays were dimmed by the glass, not blinding her as much as she would have thought, considering it was about 11am.

She wandered the room, trailing her fingers across the chaise lounge that took up the centre of the room, before walking to the glass wall closest to the pool outside, watching the small waterfall cascade into the clear water. She could hear the bubbling and it was so soothing. She looked up towards the glass ceiling wondering what it must be like when it rains.

“It’s incredible.”

His voice startled her, and she spun around to face him, seeing he was looking up at the ceiling too, so she looked up again.

“The rain, I mean. It sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard anywhere else, and the lightning creates this whole magical feel. This is where I always sleep if there is rain.” He looked toward her, and she walked over to him. “Maybe next time, you can come too? Sleep under the rain, would that be ok?” She grabbed his hand, feeling brazen, and nodded, “I’d love to Derek.” She smiled, eyes shifting from his eyes to his lips, and he moved in to kiss her, placing his free hand on her lower back and pulling her close, feeling her arms move to encircle his neck. He pulled away slightly, nosing at her jaw so she tilted her head away from him slightly, and he kissed up her throat, gently nibbling at her earlobe, documenting the way her body trembled against his when he did. He moved back to her lips, kissing her deeply for a few seconds more, before he pulled away, looking at the blissed-out look on Stiles’ face and smiling. He waited until she took a deep breathe, watching the smile spread on her face, before she looked up at him.

“Ready?”

She nodded, having no idea what she was ready for, but knowing she would do anything right now. He traced a finger from her temple to under her chin, before he grabbed her hand and moved out of the conservatory, grabbing his phone and passing Stiles her bag, before opening the front door and moving them outside.

“I thought we would take my car today,” he told Stiles as he locked up. He pressed a remote to open one of the garages, and walking towards the opening door, before walking into the garage and opening the passenger door in a sleek black car, looking at Stiles.

She smiled and walked over, placing a hand on his cheek as she got close enough, before she got into the car, and he closed the door behind her. She looked around the car, and took a deep breathe, enjoying the rich leather smell of the car. He opened the driver’s door and got in, smiling at Stiles as he started the car. She knew nothing about cars, but she knew she liked this one, whatever it was. It sounded angry. So angry! He reversed out the garage, waiting for the garage door to close, before he took off down the street.

“What are we doing, by the way?”

He laughed, “I thought you would never ask!” He looked over at her and winked. “I am taking you to Santa Monica, I thought a day at the beach would be nice.”

She looked down at the clothes, not sure that what she was wearing was beach appropriate. She decided against saying anything, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. For all she knew, Derek hated the sand and they would stay in a beach side restaurant all day. She glanced at him from the corner if her eye, remembering how looked fresh from his shower his morning, being as built as he was, she somehow doubted he had any issues being half naked on a beach.

He reached his hand across the centre console, and placed it on her thigh, smiling when Stiles put her hand on top of his. They drove in silence for a few minutes, until the silence was too much for Stiles to bear. 

“So, tell me about your family!”

“What would you like to know?”

She knew this would have been a much easier conversation if she had the pictures she saw on his wall. “Well, tell me what your parents are like?”

He smiled, “my mom is great. She is the one who got my started in acting, I was 7 and hated the idea but she somehow convinced me to give it a try, and the rest is history. She is the most supportive woman I know.”

“And your dad?”

“I can guarantee you will NEVER meet a man who is more passionate about cooking, who cannot cook to save a life.”

Stiles couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up, putting her hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

“He is great though, of course. And I have to admit he makes an amazing lemon cheesecake.” Stiles looked out of the window, seeing they were nearing the sea.

“Do you have a brother?” She looked towards him, and he nodded.

“Yeah, his name is Ryan. So, Laura is the oldest, and please tell her I said that, she hates it! Then it’s me, then Cora, then Ry. He is currently finishing up university, studying engineering.”

“Wow! Engineering… and I can barely draw a bath.” She looked towards Derek, a completely serious look on her face, and he lost it, laughing until there were tears in his eyes.

“Oh my god please, I am BEGGING you, when you meet him, please tell him that!”

Stiles would lie and say that her heart hadn’t leapt for joy when he said ‘when’, but it was plainly obvious by the smile that snuck on her face. She looked out the window, seeing that they were driving next to the ocean.

“Where are we stopping?”

Derek pursed his lips and shook his head.

“Oh really? You drove me out here, and now you are keeping secrets?” She smirked at him, but he kept his eyes on the road. She only had to wait a few minutes before he turned and parked in the driveway of a beautiful house. When she looked over to Derek, mouth slack, he smirked back at her and got out the car.


	9. Chapter 9

Stiles got out of the car, following Derek up the path to the front door, which he opened with his normal set of keys from his place in Beverly Hills, as far as Stiles could tell. He pushed the door open, placing his hand on Stiles’ lower back and letting her enter first. The house was tastefully put together, nothing like Derek’s house though. This had a woman’s touch, maybe it was their family home?

“Did your mom decorate this place?”

She looked behind her at Derek, who was watching her. “Yes, this is our escape, our ticket to relaxation as my dad likes to say.” He looked around the lounge they had entered in, “Mom wanted us to all share a place we could get to easily, and it’s especially helpful for me unfortunately, because I can hide out here. No one else knows about this place, no one except you.” He smiled at her, moving closer to brush her hair behind her ear with his fingers, before resting his hand against the side of her face, and she pushed into the warm hand, closing her eyes.

“So, we have a private beach here- “

“PRIVATE?” Stiles’ eyes must have been huge, and tried to rearrange her features into a more attractive assembly. 

Of course, Derek laughed. “Yes, a private beach. I kind of wanted to keep it a secret because I wasn’t sure of the weather, but if you like, I think I could find you a bikini or something to wear? That’s only if you want.”

She felt comfortable in her own skin, so she nodded, “Ok, where will I find this magical collection of bikinis?”

He beamed at her, before grabbing her hand and leading her to a bedroom, one of many in the hallway.

“This is Laura’s room, I don’t know much about bikinis, I don’t exactly have the body for them,” he stood with his back curved at an odd angle, his arms above his head bent weirdly, trying to look deranged and managed to, while still looking hot as hell. Stiles laughed and smacked his arm. “Anyway, I’m sure you could find one of hers that would fit? She has a few. I’m gonna go change in my room, it’s the room right across the hallway, and I’ll meet you in the lounge when you are done?” He waited for her to nod to him, and also received a kiss, and he closed the door behind him as he left.

Stiles looked around the room, trying to learn as much about Laura as she could before she went rummaging through her intimates, but the room was fairly plain, so she opened up the wardrobe and saw that Derek’s description of ‘a few’ was a little off. By a lot. There were tons to choose from, and so far, it looked like she and Laura were roughly the same size. She picked a beautiful blue set, and quickly stripped off, dressing in the bikini and admiring herself in the mirror on the wall, before taking a deep breath and going to meet Derek in the lounge.

As she turned the corner, she was met by muscles. So. Many. Muscles. Stiles immediately wanted to lick across Derek’s back, mapping out each individual muscle, before he turned around, and her eyes were drawn down to his v-line, before he cleared his throat and she blushed, looking at his face.

“You look beautiful.” His tender smile warmed her face more, and made her heart skip a beat.

“You too. Wait, uh no, you look good!” She looked up the ceiling, laughing slightly at her embarrassment.

“Oh, thank you,” he said in a high-pitched voice, pretending to fan himself.

“Oh my god you are an idiot Derek!” She laughed at him again, before he lunged at her, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, and stalking outside, ignoring her protests for a while, until he slowed a little, and moved Stiles without letting her touch the floor, and instead carried her bridal style, where he looked down at her in his arms and smiled. “You look so beautiful Stiles. I want you to know that.” Stiles tried to keep eye contact, while revelling in the admiration.

“Thank you.” She leaned up slightly and kissed Derek, before she was falling out of his arms and into the pool.


	10. Chapter 10

Stiles came up, gasping for air between bouts of uncontrollable laughter, wiping her hair away from her face, before opening her eyes. Derek was standing at the side of the pool, arms crossed with a very smug look on his face.

“No fair, if I’m in, you have to come in too!” Stiles shouted to him, while treading backwards a little. He took that as has invitation and jumped into the pool, making sure his splash was big enough to get onto stiles. She watched him swim under the water, coming towards her, before she screamed and tried to swim away, but her dragged her under, before dragging her up with him, held tight against his chest. She placed her hands on his shoulders and lifted up, trying to dunk him, but he just laughed, placing his hands under her arms, making her laugh and flinch away.

“Are you ticklish?” He had such an awful grin on his face.

“No!” She tried to sound convincing, but he didn’t buy it, and reached out, grabbing her arm before gently groping her ribs, holding her up as she thrashed and laughed, desperately trying to get away.

“No” she laughed, “Derek stop!” She laughed again, barely able to get the words out. She tried gripping his hand to make him left go, but he upped his tickling strategy and had her completely dependent on him holding her up, until he stopped and pulled her close again, and she dropped her head onto his chest, listening to his heart beat as she stopped laughing, trying to match her heart to his. He moved his hands from around her waist to her ass, and he lifted her, until she put her legs around his waist, resting her arms on his shoulders, letting her fingers trail his upper back where she knew he had a tattoo. She was now a little higher than Derek, and liked looking down at him, before she leaned the rest of the way and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, feeling him smile against her lips.

“Shall we go down to the beach?” He looked up from her eyes to her lips and back.

“Yeah, let’s go.” She tried to push away from Derek, but he kept his hands on her bum, walking towards the steps and carrying her out of the pool.

“You realise you have started something now, right? Don’t even think of putting me down. I never want to walk again.” She smirked at him, and watched the way his eyes scrunched as he laughed.

“If I had my way, I’d never put you down.”

She preened at his comment, placing her head in the crook of his neck. She trusted him entirely, and heard the change of terrain under his feet, from the deep echo of wood to the soft crunch of sand. She looked around her, seeing no one else in sight.

“The joys of private beaches, precious. Pretty much always quiet.”

She pulled back slightly and stared at him, mouth falling open.

“What’s wrong?” He had stopped walked, looking up at her, still in his arms.

“What did you call me?” She had a tiny smile on her lips, heat gently creeping on her face.

“Oh.” He hesitated. “Precious?” He frowned slightly, a crease forming between his eyebrows. She placed a gentle finger between his eyebrows, trying to remove the crease.

“Don’t frown. I liked it.” He smiled at her, looking slightly relieved. “Just surprised me.”

He continued walking, “Why did it surprise you?”

“Derek, we met yesterday. I’m still not sure this is even real.”

“Tell you what, give me until the end of today, and I will have you convinced, ok?”

“Deal.” She smiled as he let her drop to her feet, grabbing her hand as they walked towards the ocean, planning on spending as much time as possible in the waves together.


	11. Chapter 11

“Derek?”

Stiles looked up from where she was walking along the beach, to see Derek running towards the house, where a woman was waiting. He hugged her immediately, kissing her on the cheek before he turned to Stiles and waved her over. She tried to discreetly make sure her bikini was sitting right, not knowing who she was meeting, and started towards the house, where Derek and the woman were looking at her and talking, a huge smile on Derek’s face.

“Stiles, it’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Talia, Derek’s mother.” She pulled Stiles into a hug, who was too shocked to move at first, before returning the hug. Talia pulled away slightly and looked at Stiles. “I am so glad you are here today, I promise it will be a lovely day!” She let go of Stiles, and touched Derek on the side of his face before she walked into the house.

“What?”

Derek looked at her, and laughed at the expression on her face.

“OK, so, I _might_ have kept something else from you.”

Stiles heard the front door open, followed by a few more voices.

“Derek, what the heck did you do?” She wiped a hand down her face, trying to hide her smile.

“I may have told my family I’d be bringing you here today. And they may have also been invited. And we might be eating dinner with them.” He looked so falsely guilty that Stiles couldn’t help but laugh and put a hand on his chest, pushing him slightly.

“You idiot! You can’t spring this on people!”

“I did not, excuse me! I only sprung this on you!” He jumped out of the way of her smack, and she laughed, trying to get out of his way before he grabbed her in retaliation, but he was faster. He pulled her against him, her back to his chest, and he spun her around, her feet leaving the floor.

“Derek, please don’t torture her!” Stiles shouted out thanks as Derek laughed and put her down, placing a kiss on her temple which she leaned in to. She turned to the door, to see Laura and Cora standing next to each other in the doorway.

“Hi.” She smiled meekly at them both, looking down when she remembered the bikini. “Oh god I’m sorry about your bikini but this moron didn’t tell me he was bringing me here!”

Derek laughed beside her, “So I called you precious, and you call me moron, I somehow don’t think that’s how nicknames work!” Stiles stuck her tongue out at him, before being interrupted by Laura.

“Uh, please. You look SO much better in that than I do, that blue looks great on you.”

Stiles blushed slightly, “Thanks Laura. Also, Cora, it’s nice to officially meet you.” Stiles shot a look at Derek.

“Ignore her Cora, she thought it was too much that I arranged with you to do whatever it is you do, because you do it best.” He looked so serious, but Cora still smacked him, the echo so loud that Laura and Stiles gasped, before Laura laughed. “Serves you right, Derek. Don’t poke the bear!” She retreated into the house, and Cora looked to Stiles, “It’s great to see you again Stiles, and I am also glad I could offer my salon to you.”

“Thanks again Cora, I really appreciated it.”

“You know, I vaguely remember you saying you wanted to impress someone – “She was cut off by the loud screeching that Stiles erupted in, before Cora snickered and ran into the house, leaving a red-faced Stiles with Derek, who slid up behind her, putting his arms around her waist.

“So, you were trying to impress someone?” His lips at her ear, sending tingles down her spine.

“Yeah, I was, so what?”

 “Can I ask who?”

Stiles turned in his arms, looking up at him, and deadpanned, “The hotel doorman. Such a hottie.”

Derek hummed in response, “I see your point, I’ve never seen a sexier 60-year-old geezer myself. You better make your move, or I will.” Stiles couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from her, tightening her arms around his waist.

“Hi sweetie.” Stiles felt Derek stiffen, and she turned to look over her shoulder at the new arrival; a blonde, pretty, but with a vicious impression. 

“Kate. What are you doing here?” He kept his arms around Stiles, which she appreciated.

“Just popped over, saw your parents pull up. Wanted to see if you had plans, but I suppose you do.” She gave Stiles an unreadable look, but Stiles knew it wasn’t a good one.

“I do, and I will for the foreseeable future. So, you can leave.”

Stiles wanted to know why he was being so short with her, but knew now was not the time.

“I’ll catch up with you another time, I see you have your hands almost full.” She smirked towards Stiles, before truing away and swaying her hips excessively, disappearing into the house.

“You ok?” She looked up at Derek, who looked down at her, taking a deep breath and nodded.

“I am, with you here. She is a nightmare, and I really dislike her, but she thinks we have something going. It gets old.”

Stiles nodded, “So let’s have a drink? Forget all about her?”

He kissed her quickly, “Best idea yet,” and led her unto the house, meeting Laura, Cora and Talia in the kitchen. They were putting together some salad, and Stiles sat at the breakfast nook watching the, suddenly acutely aware she was still wearing just the bikini.

“So, would you believe, they had no digestive biscuits. None!” Stiles watched who could only be Derek’s father enter the kitchen. “I had to buy generic tea biscuits, and you – “

He was cut off by a chorus of “You know that’s not the same,” before Derek, Laura and Cora erupted into laughter. That’s when his father looked up and noticed Stiles, a quizzical look on his face.

“Dad, this is Stiles.” Laura put an arm around Stiles’ shoulders as she introduced her, Stiles leaning into the touch.

“Hi! I thought I didn’t recognise you! I’m Donovan, but you can call me Don!” He grabbed her in a side hug while she was still processing, making eye contact with Derek over his father’s head, who had entered the kitchen carrying a tray of glasses and a bottle of Malibu and another of apple juice.

He stood next to Stiles, his leg brushing hers, while he mixed and poured 6 drinks, passing the first to Stiles, who smiled and took a sip. And other. The others laughed, having watched her.

“Have you never had Mali and apple juice?” Derek was passing out the other drinks as he asked her.

“No, but holy crap it is freaking great!” She took another small sip, smiling at the laughter that started up again.

“Stiles, where are you from?” Talia asked, while being shooed from behind the counter by Don, who began grabbing cake pans and flour.

“Let’s sit by the pool,” Derek placed his hand on Stiles’ lower back and they moved outside, followed by Talia, Laura and Cora, leaving Don to hum tunelessly to himself as he baked.


	12. Chapter 12

They sat with their feet in the pool, before Stiles answered the question. “I was born in Valentine, Nebraska.” She spoke while looking at her drink, feeling slightly guilty that Derek was only hearing her story now, like this. “My mom asked my dad if they could move there shortly after they were married, she thought it was romantic.” She made a soft, short laugh. “Anyway, my um, my mom passed away a little over a year ago, and on the anniversary of her death, I got a letter. From her. It was really weird. But anyway, it said that a year grieving was enough, and that she had planned a trip for me before she died.” She took a deep but shaky breath. “She was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia a couple years ago, and apparently decided to spend her time making travel arrangements for me. Anyway, the letter said to go to LA, there was a plane ticket, and that a man would fetch me and drop me off at a hotel she had picked.”

She saw Derek look at her from the corner of her eye; he probably now understood why she didn’t feel like she fit in. “So, I went. Dad pretty much forced me onto the plane at gun point though.” She reminisced at the memory, before seeing the looks of horror on everyone’s faces. “Oh my god, no, not like that! He is a sheriff! OK, now that sounds worse! He just, he just really wanted me to go.” She looked at everyone individually, hoping they understood, and to her relief their shock died down.

“Losing mom was really hard, and dad was ok, I guess? I don’t know, but he told me I had to go, that mom had made the arrangements for me to stay in the hotel for a couple months. I was given a bank card with all my mom’s savings, and her letter said I had to use it on memories, nothing material. It’s only been a week, uh, 6 days, actually, and I haven’t spent anything.” She looked at Derek, smiling, “I have made some good memories though.” Everyone laughed and cooed at that, and Derek reached over and pulled Stiles under his arm, pulling her as close as she could get, before whispering in her ear, “Me too.”

***

They sat outside for a while longer, before Derek got up to turn on the grill.

“Stiles, are you warm enough?” Stiles had started rubbing her hands up and down her arms the moment Derek pulled away, having taken all his heat with him.

“Not really, I think I’ll go change.” She stood up, and was accompanied by Laura to her room.

“You can shower if you like, there is a bathroom in Derek’s room?” Laura looked into her wardrobe, pulling out a soft cardigan. “You can put this on too, if you get cold.” She smiled at Stiles, before moving towards the door, stopping with her hand on the frame. “I just want you to know, we haven’t seen him this happy in so long, thank you.”

Stiles didn’t know what to say right away, so she smiled, replying after a beat, “I can honestly say he has made me really happy too, even though it’s been only like a day and a half.”

“Stiles, if there is one thing I know, it’s that happiness doesn’t follow a timeline, or a plan.” She shrugged, “it just happens.” She smiled and left the room, leaving Stiles with her thoughts for a moment before she took her clothes, going across the hallway into Derek’s room and starting up the shower.

She closed Derek’s door, taking the now dry bikini off in the bathroom, rinsing it in the shower before hanging it over the shower door, standing under the spray to warm her cold body. She started singing to herself, while helping herself to Derek’s soap, and then his shampoo and conditioner. She stayed under the spray for a while longer than necessary, simply enjoying the heat, before she turned off the shower and climbed out, grabbing a clean towel from the pile by the basin.

She wrapped herself in the frankly giant towel, and walked out to his room, finding Derek sitting on his bed, jumping up when he saw her. “Sorry, I just wanted to check that everything was ok, you were gone a while, and then I heard the shower.”

She grabbed her clothes from his bed, “Stay here, I’ll be a moment,” closing the bathroom door as she got dressed quickly.

When she opened the door, she found Derek also changing, and pulling a shirt on. She leaned against the door frame, folding her arms across her chest, watching with a carnal smile on her face, lifting an eyebrow when he turned and saw her watching.

“That’s twice you know.” He lifted his eyebrows, already beating Stiles’ limited eyebrow movement.

“What is?”

“You picking the perfect time to come into a room I’m changing in.” He smirked, moving towards her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d day you were hoping to catch me inappropriately.” He placed his hand on her hip, but neither moved closer.

“You stayed here listening to me shower.”

“Not the same thing, and you know it,” he joked.

“Yes, it is!” She smiled.

“How so?”

“Well, say I hadn’t been able to find a towel, and came out here after my shower to look for one.”

“Ok, one, I’d think I was the luckiest guy in the world to see that, and two, I’d also be very worried that you don’t know towels are stored in the bathroom.”

She laughed and put her arms around his neck, “Whatever, I think you are the worst in this situation.”

“For you, I’d be absolutely anything,” he said before kissing her deeply, pulling her hips against his, breathing in her moans at the contact.


	13. Chapter 13

They walked out, hand in hand, and were given jobs to do by Talia – Derek went to grill the steaks, and Stiles was asked to help set the table outside and take out the salad and rolls. She was told to set 7 places, wondering if Laura or Cora had a boyfriend or a husband who was arriving. A little later, she had sat down at the table and was enjoying a second Mali and apple juice that Derek had made her before returning to the grill, when she heard the front door open, and Laura and Cora came through the kitchen and out onto the terrace, sitting beside her.

“So, how much did Derek tell you about our family?” Stiles looked at Cora, wondering where this was going.

“Well, I saw the pictures in his house – “

“Wait, he took you to his house?” Laura looked at Cora, sharing a loaded glance.

“Um yeah, this morning? Why?”

“Oh, no reason, so that’s all you know?” Laura enquired.

Stiles’ eyebrows furrowed, “I asked him a little about you guys in the car?”

Laura opened her mouth to speak when Derek came up to the table, carrying a tray of steaks, and called to his parents in the house. He almost sat on Cora, who squealed and moved away, giving him the seat he wanted next to Stiles, and smiled when Stiles laughed at him. Talia and Don came out, followed by a younger man, the guy from the photos in Derek’s house. She shot a look at Derek, who lifted his eyebrows and nodded, before he stood up, going to hug his brother, and then turning to Stiles, with his arm across his brother’s shoulders.

“Ry, this is Stiles.” He beamed at Stiles, who flushed, and got up to greet Ryan, who pulled her in for a hug. He was tall, not as tall as Derek, but still taller than her, and he had striking blue eyes.

“It’s really good to meet you Ryan,” she smiled up at him, feeling out of place.

“Well let me say the same, all I keep hearing from my parents and my sisters is how Derek won’t shut up – “he was cut off by Derek shoving him in his side, laughing, before Talia told everyone to sit down. Derek took his place next to Stiles, Laura on her other side, Talia and Don taking up the opposite ends of the table, and Cora and Ryan opposite Derek and Stiles. They started dishing out food, Derek making sure Stiles got a piece of everything because apparently ‘they all eat like wolves’, which earned a laugh from the table.

"We just fetched him from the airport, he flew in from MIT today." Cora smiled at Ryan, knocking shoulders together.

"Wow, MIT?" Stiles was surprised; both looks and brains seemed to be the norm with the Hale family.

He laughed, "yeah, but I'm sure you have a much more interesting story. What do you do?”

Stiles hurriedly chewed and swallowed, looking at Ryan. “I was actually studying special needs education? But I deferred for a while and came here.”

Ryan nodded, “That’s really cool, do you like it?”

“Yeah, I love it, I can’t wait to go back. Well, to studying I mean.” She cast a glance at Derek before looking at Ryan, “I heard you are studying engineering?”

He nodded, “yeah, second year. Thinking of aeronautical engineering, but we will see.”

“I suppose there’s a lot of drawing involved?” Derek almost choked beside her, and she smiled innocently at him while she’s smacked his back.

“Yeah, it’s pretty much all theoretic drawing, getting angles and sizes right, it’s the foundation of anything we might do later, so we have to be really good at it.”

Stiles nodded, trying her hardest to keep her smile _this side_ of interested. “Makes sense, but I also think you need to have an affinity for it. Drawing, I mean.” Derek gripped her thigh, knowing what was coming next. “I’m not like that, at all. I can hardly draw a bath myself.” There was a second of silence before the table erupted in laughter, Ryan laughing hardest of all, and Derek leaned in close to her ear, “Thank you,” he placed a kiss on her cheek, “I didn’t actually think you would do it!” She turned to look at him, a smirk on her lips.

“Well, then you should know that I am always up for a challenge, and I will pretty much do anything on a bet.”

Derek laughed, “I will definitely remember that!”, winking at her and tickling her side, making her jump and shriek.

They finished dinner, and Don brought out his lemon cheesecake, offering up large slices to everyone, and Stiles was in love from the first bite, “Don this is amazing!” He looked absolutely thrilled to hear so, offering her more even when she said she was so full.

Laura and Cora started clearing the table, with Talia and Don going to the kitchen to store the leftovers. Just as Stiles got up to help taking the plates, Laura took them from her, “No, you are our guest, so sit down and don’t do anything!” She gave Stiles a stern look before walking away with the plates.

“I’m gonna head for a shower, the flight was awful.” Ryan stood up, waving to Stiles and Derek, leaving them alone at the table.

“Want to walk on the beach?”

She nodded and jumped up, and started walking away from Derek when he grabbed her and picked her up, carrying her as he did earlier, bridal style.

“You know, I vaguely remember you saying you didn’t want to ever walk again?” He looked down at her, the fading light casting shadows over her face, but leaving her beautiful Whiskey coloured eyes bright.

“I actually think you are right!” She grinned at him, pulling herself up in his arms to kiss him. “Hmmm I missed that.”

He looked at her quizzically, making her blush again.

“I mean, we have been with your parents, I get a lot more kisses when we are alone.”

“I’m sorry. So, tomorrow, let’s just spend the day alone.” He looked straight ahead, almost at the sand now.

“Really?”

He stopped, looking at her, frowning slightly. “Stiles, I think you underestimate just how much I like you.”

She shook her head, “that’s not what I meant, but I like to hear it. I was just making sure we would be alone.” She smiled sweetly, and he laughed.

“Hell, if you say it like that, I’ll make sure we are alone forever!”

She laughed as she placed her head against his chest, feeling him walking onto the sand, where they walked and talked until the moon was high and the water calm.

“I think you should stay the night.”

She looked at him; they were ankle deep in the ocean water, hands linked. “Where would I sleep?”

“I would hope with me, but I will give you my bed if that’s better.” She stopped walking, and he pulled her into a hug.

“I’d like that Der-Bear!” She giggled at the name, and he howled with laughter.

“Der-Bear? Really?” He looked down at her, his eyebrows high in amusement.

She tried to look nonchalant, “yeah, I think it’s great.”

He lifted her face gently, and kissed her passionately, holding her body tight against his, feeling her hands grip into his shirt. She stood up on her toes, and he responded by pulling her even closer, and she could feel his erection pressing against her hip. He pulled away, leaning their foreheads together, both slightly out of breath.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get carried away.” He whispered into the small space between them, her body still tight against his.

“I really, REALLY, didn’t mind”, she whispered back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing him again.


	14. Chapter 14

Derek gently pulled away, kissing Stiles one more time quickly before he grabbed her hand and started walking back to the house. Stiles pulled her hand from his, and when he stopped to ask what was wrong, she jumped on his back, and he laughed, taking off running to the house, holding on tight to her thighs around his hips as she laughed and screamed.

He stopped running as he got into the house, and he let her slide down to her feet.

“Is everyone staying here?” Stiles asked, looking into the quiet house, mostly dark save for the kitchen light.

“My parents went home, Cora and Laura would have had to get back to the hotel, but Ryan will be here, at least for tonight.” He looked towards the rooms, “He is probably already asleep already.” He looked to Stiles. “You want anything to drink?”

She took that as an invite, and began rummaging through the cupboards while Derek leaned against the counter, watching, until she triumphantly pulled out a couple of packets of hot chocolate mix.

“Bingo!” Her eyes shone as she waved the packets at Derek. “I’m thinking, hot chocolate and a movie?”  

He smiled, snatching the drink packets and leaning in for a kiss, “sounds good to me! Do you wanna go pick something? We can watch in my room. The movies are in the lounge.” He grabbed the milk from the fridge and began boiling it on the stove, while Stiles went to search for something, and ended up feeling so overwhelmed at the sheer number of movies in the cabinet.

She sat on the floor, looking through the movies, and decided on _The Choice_ , having never seen it. She took the DVD out and laid it on the floor next to her, in no rush to get up. She rested back on her hands, knees bent in front of her, and softly sang to herself -

 _“Look at you kids with your vintage music_  
Comin' through satellites while cruisin'  
You're part of the past, but now you're the future  
Signals crossing can get confusing

_It's enough just to make you feel crazy, crazy, crazy  
Sometimes, it's enough just to make you feel crazy”_

She laid back on the carpet, looking at the ceiling –

 _“You get ready, you get all dressed up_ __  
To go nowhere in particular  
Back to work or the coffee shop  
Doesn't matter 'cause it's enough  
To be young and in love  
To be young and in love”

She trailed off, humming softly still.

“You sing beautifully.”

“Oh my god- “she sat up and turned around, “I didn’t know you were there!” She looked at him, her expression a mixture between accusation and embarrassment.

“That’s because I didn’t say anything, in case you stopped singing.” He looked so sincere, and she blushed more.

“Yeah, but – “

“Stiles, you have a beautiful voice, and I’m glad I heard it. I don’t regret listening.”

“That makes one of us,” she said quietly, looking at her hands.

He walked over, and crouched in front of her, lifting her face with his fingers, and keeping his hand against her face. “Why does it bother you?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged.

“Ok, let me tell you something. So, I’m not sure if you know this, but I’m a famous actor.” Stiles laughed, and it eased her nerves.

“Gosh, no, really?” She smirked at him, still laughing.

“I know, I know. Shocking really.” She laughed again, and he was sure there was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep hearing that. “Do you know how awkward it can be to act, in front of 20, 30, 40 people? More?” She shook her head. “It can get a little overwhelming sometimes. Doing a scene I don’t like, acting in a way that doesn’t feel right, saying things that I’d never say. Sometimes, I feel like I could forget who I am because I have been so many people. But, there’s always a but, I love it, and I’m good at it. And I wouldn’t change what I do. You, you can sing. And I would love to hear you again.”

Stiles launched herself at him, knocking him off his feet and onto his ass, her arms wrapped around him, head on his chest.

“And now?” He leaned back onto one arm, stretching his legs out, pulling her closer to slot between his legs, and stroked her hair.

“Just felt like a cuddle.”

He laughed, and it pushed his body into her in ways she may drool about for a while. Or forever. She wouldn’t tell. She looked up at him, and sat up, and straddling his hips, before she leaned down slowly and kissed him gently, feeling his fingers grip at her hips, until she slowly pulled away, and leaned up slightly. “Did you make our hot chocolate?” She asked, a twinkle in her eye.

“Yes, I did, did you find a movie?”

“Yip! She stood up, thankful her dress was long enough that it didn't show too much, before she offered him a hand up, which he eyed doubtfully, but took it anyway, and made a show of almost pulling her over in her attempt to help him up, before he jumped up, grabbed her by the waist and dipped her down, loving her squeal of delight, before he kissed her quickly and pulled her back to her feet, leaving her light headed as he went to get their (probably cold) hot chocolate.

When he returned to the lounge, Stiles was gone, so he went to his room, where he said they would watch the movie. She was standing in his doorway, looking conflicted.

“I have no pjs.”

He nodded, “I didn’t think you would have any hidden in your bag, I thought you wouldn’t mind sleeping in one of my shirts? Or we could raid Laura’s- “

“No!” He stopped, lifting his eyebrows and smiling at her, “your shirt will be fine, thank you.” He watched the slight blush warm her cheeks, before he turned, closing the door and putting the cups on his dresser, before opening a drawer and grabbing a shirt and a pair of pants. He passed the shirt to Stiles, “I’m gonna have a shower, I won’t be long.” He pressed a kiss to her temple before walking into the bathroom and closing the door, and the shower started a moment later. Stiles slowly undressed, grasping the soft cotton shirt and sliding it on. It was huge on her, and she loved it. She might never give it back. She smiled to herself as she turned the TV on and put the DVD in, ready to play. She settled on the bed, drinking her cooling hot chocolate.

He came through a few minutes later, wearing only pj pants which set Stiles’ insides on fire. She exhaled and looked away, hearing him chuckle.

“Sorry, I can put a shirt on if you would feel more comfortable?”

She looked at him, and tapped the bed next to her, shaking her head. “No, you, uh, you look really good.” She wasn’t lying. Miles and miles of smooth skin and muscles, he was incredible to look at. She looked at his face, he was smiling again, but she was to, and he climbed onto the bed next to Stiles, pulling her close, her head on his chest, and they started the movie.


	15. Chapter 15

They cuddled, watching the movie, frequently placing kisses on each other – Derek would kiss Stiles’ head, and Stiles would press kisses to the skin on his chest close to her mouth. When, on screen, Travis and Gabby had turned up the heat, Derek looked down to Stiles, watching her reaction to Travis lifting Gabby onto the counter, and he ran his hand up and down her back, watching her bite at her lower lip, enraptured by the scene on the TV. She smiled slightly, lip still between her teeth, looked up at Derek, rearranging herself to lay almost over him, his eyes on hers. His eyes darted to her mouth. “Stiles, you can’t do that.”

“Do what?” She bit her lip again when she stopped talking.

“That,” he sounded pained, and grabbed her face, kissing her passionately. She moaned, trying to move up to straddle his hips for more purchase but he turned them both over quickly, surprising her as he settled between her legs, her legs going up to his hips, her feet locking behind his ass, and pulling him closer, both groaning at the sudden contact it brought.

“Fuck, Derek- “ she moaned as he licked into her mouth, his tongue dominating hers, and she gripped his hair, pulling him as close as possible. She pulled away, moving her head to the side, a high whine escaping her throat as he mouthed at her neck, sucking at her pulse point, licking up the column of her throat.

“What do you want Stiles?”

Her brain had short-circuited, and all she could manage was another breathy moan.

“Stiles?” He murmured into her skin, nipping her shoulder.

“Ah god, do that, do that!”

He licked into her neck, and bit again, her whole body turning into a live wire; buzzing and quivering.

“Derek, please, don’t stop!”

He lifted her arms above her head, and groaned as he watched the shirt- his- that she was wearing hike up on her thighs, “Fuck Stiles, look at you.” He looked up as she tried to hide her face in the crook of her arm, still being held up by Derek.

“No, baby, please don’t hide from me, I want to see what I’m doing to you!” She slowly moved her head, biting her lip, her pupils blown wide. He held her hands in one of his, still above her head, and used the other to slowly drag his hand up her thigh, pushing the shirt higher as he went.

“Is this ok?” He looked at her, stopping his hands movements.

“Yes, please don’t stop.” She was nodding furiously, her eyes never leaving his.

That was all he needed, and he began moving the shirt again, lifting until her lace panties were on display, her breathing hitched and her fingers gripping into his hand.

“Look at you, so gorgeous.” He lowered himself, lifting her knees and spreading her legs more, loving how pliant she was. He looked up, finding her watching him, her tongue darting out to lick her hip. “Tell me what you want.”

“You. Just you.” She breathed, looking from his eyes to his mouth repeatedly.

He laughed, “I’m gonna need more to go on than that. Do you want this?” He moved down slightly and kissed her knee, listening to her breathing quicken. “Or this?” He licked up her inner thigh, relishing her moans. “This?” He moved forward, licking her lower stomach, up to her belly button. He slowly kissed up her stomach, until his nose reached under the bunched shirt, right below her breast.

“More. Don’t stop.” She looked beautiful this aroused, and Derek was captivated by the sight of her. He moved his free hand again, and dragged his fingers up her side gently, watching the way she tensed away from the touch, before he reached the bunched shirt. He looked at her again quickly, before resuming his movements and pushing the shirt up over her breasts, and began pushing it off entirely, Stiles lifting slightly to help it leave her upper back and head, and Derek released her hands momentarily while the shirt was thrown to the floor, grabbing them again before she could move.

“Fuck Stiles, you are so gorgeous.”

Any comment she was about to make was lost in the loud moan she released when he took her left nipple into his mouth, gently swiping his tongue over it, before biting gently, spurred on by the constant stream of noise and unintelligible noises Stiles made. He moved to her other nipple when he was happy with his ministrations to the first, paying close attention to what resulted in the most noise, the most movement, and what reduced her to a writhing mess of incoherent moaning.

He released her nipple from his mouth, and moved up her body, and slowly pushing his hips against hers, before he let go of her hands to support himself above her, and she took no time in moving them to his back, dragging him down to kiss him roughly, both breathing in each other’s moans as he continued to move against her.

“Fuck, Der, I’m so close,” she moaned into his mouth, before kissing him again.

“I know baby, I want you to come, and I want you to come first,” he ground his cock against her, hard, as he listened to her become louder, lifting her legs around his hips more, and the new angle was all she needed.

“Fuck, fuck! Der, Derek-ah!” She dug her fingers into his back as her orgasm hit her, the sound of her calling his name as she orgasmed and the way she bucked up against him sent Derek over the edge with a groan, putting his head in the crook of her neck as he came, both of them holding on to each other as they came down from their post-orgasm highs, with Stiles drawing shapes into Derek’s shoulders and back. Derek was the first to break the silence, a small laugh escaping, before he looked up at Stiles, who had a beautiful satiated smile on her face.

“What are you laughing about?”

“Well, I was just thinking how I need a shower, but I don’t wanna move.” He laughed again, and Stiles placed a kiss on his nose.

“Maybe we could both grab another shower, cos I, uh, need one too,” she bit her lower lip.

“Ok, well, I think I could be persuaded to have another shower, but you have to promise not to do that.” He looked at her mouth, before lifting an eyebrow and looking into her eyes again.

“Why, is there a problem when I bite my lip?” Her eyes twinkled with the dazzling smile she shot at him, and he quickly turned over, pulling her on top of him.

“Well, it’s quite distracting, and I’m thinking I won’t ever get anything else done if you keep biting it.”

“Hmmm. I’d have thought you could just keep doing me, then everyone is happy.” She looked at him smugly as he devolved into hearty laughter.

“God, shut up Stiles, or we will never leave this bed!”

“Again, I don’t see a problem with that,” came the succinct and innocent response.

He looked up at her, laughing again, before he placed his hand on her face, gently pulling her close for a passionate kiss, before he gently pushed her up, and shuffled, with her on his lap, to the edge of the bed, where he stood, holding Stiles up, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms laid against his shoulders. He watched her as he walked towards his bathroom, and placed her on the counter, before turning around to start the shower. He felt her hands snake around his waist, her head against his back, and he placed his hands on her arms, squeezing slightly before he turned to her, looking down at their bodies; her in only her lacy panties and him in his pj pants. He slowly placed his hands on her hips, gently pushing down the panties while she kept eye contact with him, her hands holding his biceps now. When they fell to the floor, she lifted her feet to stand out of the, pushing them to the side, before she shoved her hands into his pants, grabbing his ass with a naughty smile on her lips.

“Having fun?” He smirked at her, as she nodded, squeezing before she pushed them down quickly, and he too stood out of them quickly, pulling her naked body against his, quickly spinning them around and walking, her backwards, towards the shower, stopping under the hot spray.


	16. Chapter 16

“Ok, so why is this shower not a standard thing?” Stiles looked around her, Derek watching her with a smile. The shower was amazing, with 7 different heads, different water pressure from each; some beating water against her, by her legs, other more subtle, like the ones around her torso, and the main head above them - which is GIANT - fell like rainfall.

“And where, exactly, do you mean it should be a standard thing?”

“Oh god, homes, hotels! Like, oh I don’t know, mine? Um, gyms. Streets!”

He arched a brow, “Streets?”

“Frick yes Der, I’d use it! Make a nice bathroom, this shower, so many happy people!”

“Stiles?”

She looked at him and beamed, “hmmm?”

“Shut up and turn around.” He smiled good naturedly at her, and she laughed, doing as told. He grabbed the shower gel and began rubbing it into her shoulders, moving down her back slowly, before spending an inordinate amount of time massaging her ass, kissing her shoulder blades. He gently turned her by her hips, lifting one hand to her face, kissing her gently under the hot stream of water. From the bedroom, they heard a phone ringing, breaking the moment.

“Is that your phone?” He looked towards her, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

“What day is it?”

“Friday, why?”

“Shit!” She hurriedly rinsed her body, darting out the shower and running naked for her phone, answering it just in time. “Hey dad!” She walked back to the bathroom to grab a towel, hips swaying way too enticingly for Derek, and he took the moment to quickly wash himself before he turned the water off, drying himself off on a towel. He walked to the room, listening to Stiles, as he watched her dig through his drawers, pulling out a shirt and a pair of pants. She turned, smiling at him, before throwing him the latter, pulling the shirt over her gorgeous body, still on display. “Yeah dad, I told you he would have. He always says he is quitting, but never does. So now, not work related, how are YOU! Mmmhmm. Mmmhmm. Oh yes! Wow. Mmmhmm. I’m glad, I’d hate to think of you eating rubbish while I’m gone. Yeah, of course. Yep. Oh I’m fine!” She smiled at Derek, a dazzling smile that took his breathe away. “Yeah, I’ve met people. Yes dad, I have. No, are you kidding? They couldn’t pronounce it anyway!” She laughed, her head thrown back, and Derek couldn’t help but chuckle too, though not having a clue what she was laughing at. “No, no. Ok maybe. Yes dad, ok, probably! Can I tell you next week? Um, I’m tired? No, it wasn’t a question? Ok maybe, whatever, I’ll speak to you next week! OK, I love you dad.” She smiled as the phone went silent, leaning against the dresser still, where Derek sauntered over to her, pulling her against him, cuddling her.

“So.”

She looked up, hearing the smile in his voice. “So?”

He nodded. “So.”

She poked him in his bare chest, “So what?”

“Oh, I don’t know, just thinking that you were keeping something from me, something I might not be able to pronounce?”

She groaned and thumped her head against his chest, “No! No, I refuse.”

He raised her up, carrying her to bed, before he dropped her and leaned over her, bracing himself with his hands next to her head. “Spill! You have me so curious now!”

She shook her head, trying to look serious. “No can do Der-Bear. Sorry!”

“Gosh that is a pity…” He trailed off as he lifted his knees onto the bed, straddling her hips, before he slowly grasped her hands, placing them above her head in one of his, before he slowly dragged his fingers up her side. He watched the realisation flit across her face as he began tickling her, listening to her begs and uncontrollable laughter, giving her a few seconds every 10 seconds or so to catch her breath, as well as hoping she would tell him, but, with eyes bright and a lip between her teeth, she refused at least 6 times before she gave in, shouting ‘mercy’ between laughter.

He immediately stopped, kissing her nose.

“So, my name isn’t Stiles.” She watched the confusion settle on his face; the frown, the furrowed brow, “No, no, I mean it IS Stiles, but only because my name is Polish and I have never met anyone who can pronounce it, and eventually it gets super irritating and frustrating and embarra- “

“Stiles?”

She took a breath, “yeah?”

“You should probably tell me your name now,” he deadpanned, but he was fighting his smile tremendously.

“It’s Agnieszka.”

Derek cleared his throat. “What?”

She laughed, trying to free her hands to cup his face, but he held her there.

“Agnieszka.” She smiled, enunciating slowly, watching him try to silently mouth it.

“Ag-niska?”

She laughed, “No, A-gne-esh-ka. Agnieszka.”

“Good god you make it sound easy!” Stiles bubbled with laughter.

“I’d freaking hope so, I grew up with it!”

He mouthed, silently, a few times, before trying again. “So, Agnieszka?”

She beamed at him, nodding almost manically, “Yes! Well done!”

“It doesn’t sound like yours, really.”

“Ok, but it was your first time, Mr Everything-has-to-be-perfect!” She lifted her head to kiss him quickly, before falling back onto the bed. “Correct enough people, from a young age, and you would be a pro too.”

“Fair enough. Maybe I should start calling you Agie.”

She tried to bite his forearm, earning her a laugh, “And now?”

“Agie? AGIE? Are you actually crazy? Agie?” She looked like he had asked her to build a deep-space rocket out of toilet paper.

“Ok, ok, Stiles it is. Until I can say, uh, Agnieszka?” She smiled, shaking her head and looking to the ceiling.

“No, don’t ever call me that, unless you want me to die when I have to have this conversation with a million other people.”

He laughed at that, before he rolled over, getting off the bed to turn the light off, returning to bed and finding Stiles already under the covers, where he promptly joined her. “You are too far away,” he complained, while he reached out, dragging her closer, until she had her head on his bicep, her leg thrown over his, pulling herself as close as she could get. He kissed her head, before she turned her face to get a real kiss, which he happily obliged.

“Good night Der.”

“Good night Agie.”

She hit him.

He smiled.

So did she, but she will never admit it.

 


	17. Chapter 17

Stiles woke slowly, enjoying the warm slither of sun peeking through the curtain. It took her a while to realise she was alone in the bed, and sat up trying to smooth her mad hair. She smiled at herself, remembering the details from last night. She still felt like it was absolute madness that she and Derek had shared a bed, never mind had gotten off on one another the way they did… They didn’t even technically touch one another, and it was still the best time she had ever had.

She moved to the edge of the bed, lowering her feet to the floor, before she stood and stretched, still smiling stupidly. She felt the shirt rise, and remembered she had no panties. Scratch that, she had no clean clothes here. She tugged the shirt down, happy to see it was at least long enough to mostly cover her thighs, ending about half way down to her knees. She walked to the door, peeping her head around the corner, and saw Derek sitting at the dining table down the hallway. He noticed the movement and looked up, shooting her a dazzling smile before beckoning her over with his head. As she got closer, she noticed Ryan was there, and slowed, looking down at her shirt, before looking at him. He smiled wider, “it’s fine, come sit here.” He patted his lap, and THAT was an offer she would never turn down. She walked the rest of the way, offering Ryan a shy smile and wave.

“Morning Ryan.”

He shook his head laughing, “Morning Stiles!”

She sat on Derek’s lap, turning slightly to lay an arm over his shoulder, and thoroughly loving the feeling of his wrapping his arms around her waist. “And good morning to you.”

He responded by kissing her temple, rubbing up and down her back.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” She asked, carding her fingers through his hair.

“Well, I do actually need to go out, my manager has some documents for me. I was thinking you could stay here?”

“I’d like that,” she looked down, “but, uh, I have no clothes.” She finished with her eyes back on his, a smile playing on her lips.

“Ok, how about this. You stay here, I will get Laura to call you, and she can gather whatever you want, and I’ll pick it up on the way back?” He looked towards Ryan, “You will be alone, Ry is going to see friends, so he won’t be back for the next few days.” He looked back at her, lifting a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, leaving his hand on her face. “Can I trust you to not burn down the house while I’m gone?”

She laughed, feigning shock and hit him on his arm, “Rude, excuse me, I am more than capable of being alone for a few hours. I’ll probably just use that stupid shower of yours. All day.”

Ryan groaned and got up, startling Stiles; she had kind of forgotten about him. “I’m going to get dressed and leave, can’t deal with this shit, this early.” He shot a smile at them and she laughed, blushing.

“Sorry!” She put her head in Derek’s neck, feeling his rest his head on hers.

“Sure you will be fine?”

“Der, I don’t know if you know this, but there are like 2.7 million DVDs in the lounge. _Think_ I’ll be ok.”

“There’s also Netflix? You could, you know, watch Netflix… And chill…”

She looked up at him, eyes twinkling with almost silent laughter, biting her lower lip. “Really? I can watch Netflix. And c _hill_. By myself. That sounds so exciting!”

He shrugged, “Hey, I don’t know, just thought I’d offer my thoughts.” He tried to look serious, and failed miserably.

She laughed, which turned to a squeal as he stood, and she was in his arms, bridal style. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him along his jaw as he walked to his bedroom. He practically threw her on the bed, thoroughly enjoying the scream she released, before she broke down into laughter, rolling around on the covers. He stalked over, a dark look in his eyes, and grabbed under her knees, pulling her to the edge of the bed, her ass stopping right against his hips, where he stood next to the bed, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“You have no panties on.” He groaned, slowly pushing his now-hard cock against her nakedness, earning a moan from her.

“OH, oh, yeah…” She trailed off, looking up to him, flicking her tongue out to wet her lips.

“Derek, I need to talk to you, and I’m sure as hell not walking in there.” Ryan called from the hallway, nowhere in sight though thankfully.

Stiles covered her eyes, horrified that Ryan had interrupted. Derek leaned down, kissing her quickly, before he rearranged himself in his pants, pulling the head of his dick into his waist band, and making sure his shirt covered everything, before he winked at Stiles, who had bunched the hem of the shirt between her legs, blushing furiously.

“Coming Ryan,” He walked out the room, closing the door behind him. Stiles immediately jumped up, ran to the bathroom and grabbed the bikini she left hanging to dry, and hurriedly shed the shirt, putting the bikini on. Derek entered the bedroom just as she was putting the shirt back on, over the bikini, much to his disappointment.

“Hey, why did you move?” He asked, leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom.

She turned to him, playing with the hem of her shirt. “Well, getting interrupted kinda ruins the mood! Also, the faster you leave,” She walked to him, placing her hands on his chest, “the quicker you can come back to me.”

“I like how you said that,” he kissed her before she could question it, and he shed his clothes quickly, loving how her eyes roamed his body, before he got into the shower. She shook her head and took a deep breath, fighting the urge to get in the shower too.

“Coffee?” She asked him, looking at the blurry outline if his body through the glass shower wall.

“Please, everything is in the cupboard next to the kettle.”

“Thanks!” She may have strutted out the room, feeling incredibly self-confident in a bikini and his shirt. She bustled around the kitchen, starting the coffee machine, before she started breakfast too. There were enough steaks left over, and eggs, mushrooms, cream, cheese in the fridge. She thought a hearty omelette would be good for the two of them, so got what she needed, finding the pans and utensils easily enough. She had almost finished when Derek walked back in, in skin-tight black jeans and a dark green Henley. She exhaled quickly, looking away from him before she got too distracted.

“What are you making?” He moved behind her, winding his arms around her waist, watching her fry the second omelette.

“Breakfast, can you finish up the coffee?” She tilted her head to look up at him, watching him nod before he pulled away. She had already set up the breakfast nook, so she plated the omelettes and placed them over the counter onto the table top, and followed Derek who had the coffee.

They sat down close together, and began eating while everything was still hot. Derek finished quicker than Stiles, and jumped up to put his plate and cup in the dishwasher, before walking over to Stiles. “Sure, you will be fine?” He traced a finger down her jaw, watching her smile.

“Yes, so go! Be quick though!”

He laughed, “OK, I might be a couple hours, but I’ll be as fast as I can.” He quickly bent down, kissing her before he grabbed his keys from the table and opened the front door, smiling at her before he closed it behind him. She heard his car start, and listened to the garage door closing as he took off. She slowly finished the rest of her omelette, and added her plate to the dishwasher, along with the pan and utensils she had used. She jumped up onto the counter, looking around the quiet kitchen, unsure of what to do now. She decided on a second cup of coffee, and stretched over to the other counter, without moving from where she was sitting, and crossed her legs on the counter when she had her coffee in hand, enjoying it in the silence.

It didn’t take long for the silence to become boring; she quickly drank the last bit of the coffee, put the cup in the dishwasher before turning to the cupboard in the hallway, grabbing a towel, and the sunscreen she found on the top shelf.

She opened up the back sliding door that led to the veranda, and began the short walk to the beach, happy to see, again, that it was empty. She threw the towel down, pulling off the shirt, and laid down on her back, applying the sunscreen to her skin before she relaxed. There were enough clouds that stopped her from heating up too quickly, but she also wouldn’t get cold. She had laid there for a while before her phone rang, startling her.

“Hello?”

“Hi Stiles, it’s Laura! How are you?”

Stiles pushed her torso up and leaned on her elbows. “Hey Laura! I’m good thanks, and you?”

Laura laughed, “I’m glad to hear that! I’m fine thanks. Derek asked me to give you a call about a bag you needed?”

“Uh, yeah, well I’m gonna stay here, but I only have the clothes I wore yesterday, he said you might be able to get someone to get some stuff for me, and he would pick It up on the way home?”

“Sure, I’ll do it for you.”

“Oh, no please don’t go out of your way, anyone can do it!”

“Stiles, it's fine. I’ll pack it for you, and then you know everything will be fine in the hotel room. Also I’m fairly sure my brother would bite my head off if someone else rummaged through your clothes!”

Stiles chuckled at that. “Ok, fair enough!” She told Laura what she wanted, Laura writing it all down, before they ended the call, Laura telling Stiles to save her number for in future.

Stiles saved the number, and laid back down, ready to relax again when she heard the unmistakable sound of feet crunching sand. She looked up, and saw Kate approaching her. This woman made Stiles’ skin crawl, and she wasn’t sure why.

“Hi, Stacy, right?” Kate put her own towel down next to Stiles, sitting down without an invite.

“Stiles.” She had tried to make it sound friendly, but hey. Hey, short and abrupt works fine too.

“Sorry, _Stiles._ How are you?”

“Fine, and you?” Stiles had no idea why she was being subjected to this woman again.

“I’m ok, getting better I suppose.” She sounded a little down, and Stiles wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“Oh, were you sick?”

Kate looked up, shaking her head slowly. “No, I guess you don't know. Huh.”

Silence.

“Know what, Kate?”

“Oh, I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you, maybe ask Derek.” Kate made as if she was going to get up, and Stiles was happy enough to continue this conversation with Derek, so made no attempt to stop her.

“We were engaged.”

Stiles took a deep breath and looked at Kate again, and tried to sound somewhat interested in her, “who?”

“Derek and myself. I thought he was happy.” Kate had sat back down, and Stiles realised she wouldn't be getting rid of Kate without Kate spilling her story. She obviously didn’t care that Stiles hadn’t asked for it from her. “He broke it off 2 days ago, I don’t know why” Kate wiped her eyes, smearing tears across her cheeks. “I thought he loved me.” Her voice was thick, and it sounded like she was fighting her crying.

“Um, maybe I should talk to Derek about this?” As Stiles spoke, she realised that 2 days ago would have been roughly when she had met Derek. She felt her anxiety rise, surely Derek would have told her if this was the case?

“Sure, maybe that’s for the best.” Kate got up slowly, picking her towel up gently, trying not to cover Stiles in sand and turned to go back to her own house. She got a little way away before she turned. “I just wish I understood what happened.” Stiles watched her wipe her eyes again, hearing a sob tear through Kate’s throat as she walked home quickly. She wasn’t sure what to do now, laying on the beach didn’t seem all that appealing, and this whole engagement thing was playing on her mind. She grabbed her phone, and started a message to Laura.

<Hi Laura, can I have Derek’s number?

A few moments later, her phone beeped with a reply.

>Sure, I’ve attached his contact. Can’t believe you have my number before his!

<Ha ha, yeah yeah, we have been together like all day, every day, since we met. Kinda didn’t need his number before now.

>Is everything ok?

Stiles didn’t know if she should talk to Laura about this, but decided it might be better than assuming the worst, right?

<No, everything is fine, but Kate came over. She was upset.

>Ok, Stiles, your first piece of advice from me? Run, whenever you see her. Seriously. Secondly, she lies better than she breaths, and she is still alive, know what I’m saying?

<I hope so, thanks Laura.

>No problem love, I’ll see you soon! Avoid her, please.

Stiles locked the screen, grabbed her towel and went inside, picking a DVD and letting it play in the background as she stewed over her encounter with Kate.


	18. Chapter 18

When Derek arrived back 3 hours later, he heard the tv on in the lounge, and grabbed Stiles’ bag from the passenger seat and went inside, dropping it by the door. He walked into the lounge, and saw Stiles had fallen asleep on the couch, the movie still playing. He smiled as he crept closer, getting onto his knees next to the couch, and slowly moved his face to her neck, gently kissing her. She moaned lightly, which made Derek want to hear it again, so he began mouthing at the skin, spurred on by another moan.

“Wad-ya doin’?” Her voice was husky, and Derek chuckled into her neck.

“Kissing you.” He continued kissing her neck, pulling the collar of her shirt down slightly to run his tongue across her clavicles.

“Oh. Yeah, makes sense.” Stiles laughed, “Why are you kissing me? Also, why when I’m asleep?”

He stopped, and looked into her eyes. “Was it a nice way to wake up?”

She nodded, smiling.

“So, it’s better if I wake you up like this, instead of, say, hitting two pans together above your head?”

Stiles couldn’t control the laughter that she burst out with. “God no don’t do that!”

He looked serious for a moment, and nodded. “OK, its settled then, no pans, just kisses?” He kissed her again for emphasis, loving how she moved her head to give him more room. “And as for _why_ , I like the noise you make when I do this.” He moved down her neck again, mouthing at the sensitive spot below her ear, and she moaned in response, before she shut her mouth loudly, her teeth clashing. He looked up at her, and saw her wide eyes. “I like that sound, so let me hear it.” He bit her neck gently, and she relaxed again, sighing quietly before he moved to lick her earlobe, making her moan again. She moved her hands from her sides to wind her fingers in his hair softly, but he stopped and stood up. “I bought us lunch, come.” He offered her a hand which she took, and he pulled her to her feet, not letting go of her hand as he led her to the kitchen, grabbing the bag of food from the front door as they walked past. They sat on the floor together, eating Chinese from the takeaway containers, feeding each other, and stealing each other’s bites.

“Can I ask a question about Kate?”

Stiles saw Derek stiffen, and he kept his eyes on his food. “Ok?”

“Well, she came to see me today.” Derek snapped his head to look at Stiles. “Yeah, anyway. She, uh, mentioned that you and she were…”

He waited for a moment, before he couldn’t hold back. “Were what?”

Stiles swallowed, nervous about bringing this up now. “Engaged.”

Derek looked back to his food, before closing his eyes and clenching his jaw. Stiles looked away, upset that he had actually kept this from her. She got up, leaving him in the kitchen, and went to grab her stuff from his room. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay, or if Derek would want her to stay after she brought this up. Why he would be angry with her was beyond her, but hey. She rolled her dress roughly, and turned to walk out the bedroom door, stopping when she saw Derek standing against the frame, looking at her with his arms crossed.

“What are you doing?”

She looked down at the dress she kept wrapping around her hand. “I don’t know.” She shrugged slightly, keeping her eyes down.

“Do you want to leave?”

She looked up at him, her stomach dipping at the thought that he wanted her to go. “I kind of want to talk about this.” She kept eye contact with him, before he looked away, going to sit on the bed, patting it so she came to sit next to him.

“We were engaged, it ended about 3 years ago.”

Stiles frowned and looked at him quickly. “What?”

He nodded, “let me guess. She told you that she and I separated at roughly the same time that you and I met?” Stiles nodded, mouth open slightly. “And she cried?” Stiles’ eyes went wide, nodding again. He sighed and reached over slowly for her hand, and when she didn’t pull away, he grabbed hold of it, linking their fingers. “She is, in nice terms, a total nut case. She and I never really got along, but it just kind of make sense, at the time, for us to get engaged, we had been together for a couple years, and we were living together, very unhappily though. Then, 3 years ago, I found out that she was accessing my bank account and helping herself to shopping sprees. I wouldn’t have cared, but she turned it around and blamed me. Then it got worse when I found out she had bought a car for her father, also on my account. This came after she had cheated a couple times, but she always talked her way out of it, somehow convincing me that she could change. It was just a nightmare relationship from start to finish, but every now and then she rears her evil face to try weasel something out of me.” He looked from their hands to her face, and used his free hand to sweep her hair from her face and over her shoulder. “I am so sorry you had to be tormented by her. Wouldn’t surprise me if she is sitting in her house, stroking a cat in her arms, laughing manically right now. She is literally that bad.”

Stiles laughed at that, and the tension broke, dissipating. “Thank you for telling me the whole story.”

He placed his hand on her face gently, leaning in for a kiss, “I would have told you, just didn’t think 2 days after we met was the best idea. You understand that, right?”

She nodded, leaning into his hand, “of course. 3 days is usually the cut off for all important information, in any relationship, so you still had an acceptable amount of time.”

Derek laughed, kissing her again.  “You are so full of crap!”

“Uh, rude? Yes. How did it go today with your manager?” She trailed her fingers across the back of his hand, and Derek had a sense that this was all he wanted, someone who cared.

“It went fine, there is a possible lead available, he wanted to get my take on it before he requests a script. We will see how it goes.”

She looked up to him, smiling a little, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip.

“Is everything ok?” He raised his eyebrows, wondering why she seemed so shy all of a sudden.

“Wine? Can we have wine?” She almost shouted at him in her haste to say something.

He laughed, “oh god no, never wine! Couldn’t possibly waste wine by DRINKING it!” He pressed his lips to hers quickly, before he got up to get them both a glass. She stayed seated on his bed, not sure how to ask for what she really wanted. What if he thought they were moving too fast? What if he said no? She took a deep breath to calm her sudden flared up panic, and felt calmer when he walked into the bedroom with the two glasses to red wine, passing her one.

“This is really nice!” She took another sip, the fruity flavour bursting over her tongue. She felt him watching her, and decided to have another sip before she looked at him, and she blushed at the look on his face; he must have known this wasn’t all she wanted.

He smiled, “Do you want to go finish eating? Watch your movie?”


	19. Chapter 19

She shook her head, moving towards him so she could throw her far leg over his, straddling his lap, placing her hands on his shoulders and felt his hands rest on her hips. “I kind of want to finish what we started this morning.” She licked her lip, her eyes flicking between his eyes and lips, and he closed the distance between them, capturing her lip in his teeth. He moved one hand to her neck and the other to her ass, pulling her closer to him, grinding her against his hardening cock, and earning himself a moan from her. She threw her head back and he took the opportunity to latch onto her neck while still moving her forwards and backwards on his lap, making them both breathless in barely no time. She pushed at his shoulders to get him to lay down, grinding against him as she tried to kiss him, but most of their kisses were lost to breathy moans. He held her waist and turned them both over, depositing Stiles on the bed below him gently, and moved his hands to behind her knees, pushing them closer to her body and pushed his hips against her, the angle making him rub deliciously against her bikini-clad clit.

“Fuck Der,” she arched her back, one hand winding in her bedding and the other gripping his shirt.

“What do you want baby?” He continued moving slowly against her, watching her face each time he rubbed his dick directly over her clit.

She opened her eyes, pupils huge, and a shiver went down her spine. “I think we need less clothes first…” She trailed off, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth.

He laughed lightly, moving off the bed to stand and put his fingers in the waistband of her bikini bottoms. “I actually think you are right. If I remember this morning, these definitely weren’t here.” He pulled them down slowly, kissing from her thighs downwards as they moved down her legs. He threw them to the floor, and ran his fingers from the inside of her ankles, up to her inner thighs, spreading her legs as he went. “Fuck, you are so gorgeous.” He had looked up to her face, but saw that she had slid her shirt over her boobs, and was pinching and rolling her nipples through the bikini top she still wore. She moaned, her lip between her teeth, eyes closed. He hadn’t stopped massaging her inner thighs, and took the opportunity while she wasn’t looking to flick his tongue against her clit quickly. He pulled back as her eyes snapped open, her eyes wide and a loud moan escaping her lips. He smiled devilishly at her, watching as she moved her hips, trying to get his massaging hands to redirect their attention.

“Tell me what you want baby.” He watched her, keeping his hands on her inner thighs, every now and then softly brushing against her labia, causing her to moan and grind down, but he had always moved his hand away in time to stop her from getting the pressure where she wanted it.

“Touch me Der, please!” She stared down at him, and he smiled up at her.

“Like this?” He continued massaging her thighs.

“No!” She giggled, her eyes shining.

“Ok, so like this?” He moved his hands to her waist, massaging and dragging his fingers up and down her sides, making her laugh and squirm.

“No, Derek, lower! Fuck!” She laughed again, and he began moving his hands, grabbing her hips, his thumbs stretching towards her mound, but never touching her.

“Here?”

She ached her back, and let go of her nipples, laughing still, “No you ass!” She grabbed one of his hands and dragged it to her pussy, and he swiftly pushed one finger into her, hearing her laugh distort into a drawn-out moan.

“Here?” He spoke softly, lowering his head to kiss from her hip to her clit, slowly making circles around it with his tongue, as Stiles quickly unravelled above him. He added a second finger, relishing in her moan, which he made louder as he sucked on her clit. She pushed a hand into her bikini top and began playing with her nipple, the other winding in his hair. He slowly fucked her with his fingers, and alternated between sucking, circling and flicking her clit with his tongue, until she was nothing but a writhing, moaning mess. He pulled his fingers out of her, smiling as she frowned and kissed up her body, until he had his knees on the bed on either side of her thighs. He grabbed at her shirt, and she lifted up so he could remove it, and reached beneath her to undo her bikini top. She laid still, almost panting, as he moved to kiss her deeply, their tongues intertwining as Stiles tasted herself on his lips.

“Derek,” she breathed out between kisses, “you need less clothes.” To prove her point, she lifted her hips, and ground against his cock, still inside his jeans.

“Fuck Stiles,” He groaned, pushing down against her harder, breathing in her moan. She grabbed his shoulders, and began pulling at his shirt, until he pulled away and sat up, dragging the shirt off, while she dragged her fingers down his abs and into his happy trail. He watched the way she looked at him, her fingers dancing against his skin, until she reached his jeans button, popping it quickly and shoving a hand into his waist band, not hesitating before wrapping her hand around his dick. He threw his head back, groaning, his fingers going to push his jeans down further, until Stiles could grab the top of his jeans and boxers, drawing them down so his cock sprang free.

“Holy shit Derek.” He looked down, her eyes huge as she took in his girth and length, before he laughed a little.

“What babe?”

She looked up to him, licking her lips, “lay down.”

He moved down to kiss her, grabbing her waist and turning them until she was on top of him, her legs spread wide so her knees were either side of his hips. She immediately ground her hips, losing herself on the feeling of his cock rubbing against her pussy for the first time, forgetting everything else for several moments. She slowed down, not wanting to rush, and moved down between his legs, eyeing his length again.

“Ok, so, I don’t know how well this might go- “

He stopped her, grabbing her face. “You don’t have to.”

She nodded, her eyes not leaving his, “I know, but I want to. I’ve never, you know, and…” She trailed off shrugging, before she lowered her head slightly and dragged a tongue across his head, the taste of his pre-cum exploding across her tongue. She licked her lips, feeling bolder, and gently took the head into her mouth, before she looked up to see him watching, his mouth slack and his eyes taking in every detail. She blushed, but didn’t stop, and instead began slowly taking more and more of his cock into her mouth until she wasn’t sure she could take much more, wrapping her hand around the base to make up for it. She moved her head up and down slowly, running her tongue along his underside when she could, and judging by the look on Derek’s face, she wasn’t doing too badly.

She pulled off with a pop, but before she could go again, he grabbed her arms and all but dragged her up his body, forcing his tongue into her mouth and grabbed her ass to grind against her. He rolled them both over again, his mouth never leaving hers, and slotted between her open legs. He thrust against her, feeling how wet she was, and slowed down, “you sure you wanna do this now?” He hoped to god she wouldn’t say no.

“Yes, I’m sure!” She leaned up to kiss him again as he grasped his dick, lining himself up, before he slowly entered her, swallowing her gasp at the intrusion. “Ah fuck,” She pushed her hips up, trying to get more of him in, and Derek let her go at whatever pace she wanted until he bottomed out. She had her nails in the skin of his back, slowly moving her hips in a circle as she got used to the stretch.

“Please Derek, ah-please!” She begged into his neck, and he slowly pulled out before he rammed back into her. “Ah DEREK!” She lifted her legs higher on his waist, sliding a hand down her belly before he caught it, and put it above her head.

“No, I want you to come with just my cock in you.”

She moaned at his words, loving the feeling of him restraining her hands. He pulled out quickly, and almost groaned with her at the loss of contact. “Move to the edge of the bed,” he moved backwards until he was standing, kicking off his jeans and boxers fully, and she tried to be sexy about scooting down the bed, feeling embarrassed until she looked up and saw the ravenous look in his eyes. He reached out and grabbed under her knees, pulling her the rest of the way, smirking at her moan when his cock brushed her clit. He thanked the deities that he had a tall bed, definitely not regretting it now when he lifted her legs around his waist again, plunging into her. She grabbed the bedding, trying to anchor onto something as he fucked her, her orgasm growing quickly until it crashed over her, stealing her breath. He never slowed down, working her through her orgasm and a few moments later he came too, grunting as he thrust erratically, burying himself deep within her before he all but fell forward, caging her between his arms and kissed her intensely, feeling her legs slowly falling down his hips. He pulled away, looking at her in her blissed-out state, before he laid next her, pulling her into his arms and fell asleep too.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this has taken an age for me to update, but thank you for sticking with me! I hope this chapter makes it worth the wait!

She laid wake for a while, the sun slowly making its way across the window. She had her head on Derek’s chest, enjoying his warmth, tracing patterns on his stomach, and smiling when he tensed slightly as she got closer to his sides.

‘Bloody bastard is ticklish too,’ she tucked that information away as his arms tightened around her, pulling her onto his chest.

“Hello.” He smiled as she laced her fingers together over his chest and placed her chin on them.

“Hi!”

“So, you fell asleep.” He was trying not to smile, and Stiles could see right through it.

“Uh, excuse you, you fell asleep too! I’ve been watching you!”

“Ok, one, creepy?” He laughed and leaned up to kiss her quickly, “and two, I fell asleep because you fell asleep.”

She looked at him, smiling, watching him almost smile so many times. “I know a way we can settle this?”

That piqued his interest. “Really? What do you suggest?” He had left his hands on her lower back from when he pulled her onto him, and she was acutely aware of them in that moment.

“Well,” she shimmied her hips slightly, rubbing against him, and smiling at his little gasp, “we could probably do it again, and then we will see who falls asleep first? Then, I dunno, they make dinner?” She laughed as he suddenly turned them both over, and he settled between her legs. Now taking his turn to elicit small gasps and sighs from her as he moved against her.

“Hello?” Derek stopped moving, still holding himself above her, and Stiles’ head snapped to the door. “Derek, you here?”

He jumped up, quickly grabbing pants as Stiles ran for the bathroom, taking her bag as she went.

He followed her into the bathroom, pulling on a shirt as he looked at Stiles.

“Let me go see why she is here, ok?”

She nodded, pulling her clean clothes on, getting onto her tip toes to kiss him before he left to see his mother. She heard them mumbling as she continued to get dressed, putting on a little mascara and brushing her hair before she went out to join them. She found them on the veranda, both holding steaming cups of coffee.

“Hey, I made you one too, sit with me?” The smile he shot her would have made it impossible to say no, no matter what he was asking.

“How are you, Talia?” She asked as she sat, lifting her feet onto the seat next to her.

“I’m fine honey, thank you! I was just asking Derek if he wanted to join us out today, I didn’t realise you were here.” She was a lovely woman, and she put Stiles at ease.

“I don’t mind?” She looked at Derek who was smiling at her.

“How about we get dressed and I’ll drive us over?”

Talia stood up, “perfect, see you soon!” She smiled at Derek before she disappeared in the house, and a few moments later the front door opened and had barely closed before Derek was moving her, pulling her legs apart and slotting between then.

“Ah fuck, Derek what are you doing?” She had her head thrown back grinding up against him, and he scrapped his scruff against her throat before kissing her, smiling when she linked her feet behind him, pulling him against her sharply, her giggles changing to a breathy moan.  

“I want to see who falls asleep again first, i.e. you, and I thought you wanted to see the same thing?” He teased her, slowly rotating his hips.

“Screw you buddy- “

“I’m sure you’d love to.” Stiles laughed, his cocky grin sending tingles through her body.

“So maybe stop talking, start touching?” She matched his grin, lifting an eyebrow for emphasis and bit her lip when he thrust against her.

“I don’t know what’s worse, your dirty talk or your moans when I do this,” he moved his dick against her again, loving the moan that she gave him.

“Hi Derek!” He stopped, looking to the gate that led to the beach, and could have growled when he saw Kate leaning against it.

“Fuck off Kate.” He sat up, Stiles following suit as she kept her eyes away from Kate.

“Tsk tsk, that’s very rude. I just wanted to say hello, sweetie.” She smiled sweetly, and kept her eyes on Derek as he stood, grabbed Stiles’ hand and pulled her into the house.

“Bye!”

Derek shut the door, cutting off Kate’s voice. “I don’t even have words, I am so sorry.”

She turned to look at him, “you don’t have to apologise for her, it’s not your fault.”

“Fair enough, but she was crazy when I first met her, I should have known then. Also, that’s the second time someone interrupted us!” To emphasize his point, he ran a finger down her side, making her giggle and try to pull away.

“I have a feeling it’s a sign, like maybe you should get dressed and we should go meet your mom!”

She jumped back when he tried to grab her waist, and he gave a quick laugh. “So demanding!”

She nodded and walked back to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and feeling his arms tighten around her too. He slowly lowered to kiss her, and his phone began to vibrate. “Ooh, is that your phone in your pocket or… Ok that sounds awful no matter who says it!” She put her forehead on his chest and listened to his laugh as he reached into his pocket, making sure to graze her crotch lightly, and pulled the phone out.

“Hi Jody, how are you?” Stiles heard a mumbled reply on the phone, “that’s great news! Yeah, yes, of course. When do they need me?” Stiles watched his face fall slightly. “That soon? Oh, yeah I know. Ok, I’ll make the arrangements. Thanks Jody.” He pulled his phone away from his ear and looked at Stiles, “let’s sit down?” He walked to the couch, and sat down, waiting for Stiles to sit next to me so he could pull her under his arm.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have to leave for that job, I’m gonna be away for a couple of weeks.”

“Oh, well that’s good though, right?” She laid down, her head in his lap, and looked up at him.

“Yes of course, but call me selfish, I’m gonna miss you.” He trailed his fingers down her face, and then traced her smiling lips.

“I am pretty damn amazing, right?” She winked at him before she laughed.

“You are though.” His voice was soft and ceased her laughter.

“It’s ok, maybe I could find it in me to text you somewhat regularly?”

“I would like that.” He leaned down and kissed her, “should I go get dressed now?”

“Uh, yes, I think you should!” She sat up, looking at him, “we can celebrate when we are out.”

“Come with me,” he stood, holding her hand and led her to the bedroom, where she went to put on some more makeup on while he grabbed some new clothes and a shower. He didn’t take too long, and grabbed her outstretched hand to take her to the car.

“So where are we going?” She slid into the passenger seat, and watched him close her door and walk around the car.

“A restaurant.” He smiled and started the car, and they drove in silence for only a couple of minutes before they pulled up to a small restaurant.

“Um, Derek?”

“Yeah?”

She looked over to him, and gestured out the window to the restaurant. “Hale’s?”

He laughed, shaking his head and got out the car, going around to open her door. “Ok, yes, it’s a family restaurant.”

“Cool, cool.” She swallowed loudly, smoothing out her shirt.

“You sound stressed?” He stopped her from walking, and she placed a hand on his chest.

“I just found out I’m having dinner with my boyfriend, boyfriend? Moving on. His parents. Kind new. And so new! And I didn’t expect this and I probably could have had better shoes and it’s all so new and – “

“Stiles?”

“Hmmhmmm?” She pursed her lips and looked into his eyes. “Yeah?”

“It will be fine. Girlfriend of mine.”

He grabbed her hand and led her to the restaurant, letting her enter first. She didn’t even try to control her smile at his reply.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh I am so sorry this has taken an age to update; I hurt myself pretty badly and have been pretty much drugged up for the last 2 and a half weeks. I hope this update is worth the wait!

The moment they walked in, the noise escalated tremendously, a chorus of ‘Derek’ welcoming them and guiding them to the booth at the back of the restaurant, not that Derek seemed to need help in finding them.

“Hello hello!” Derek called out, and pulled Stiles forward, guiding her with a hand on her lower back, “for those that don’t know, this is Stiles.”

She waved shyly, looking at the only new face at the table, “hi, its, uh, nice to meet you.”

Laura laughed and grabbed Stiles’ hand, pulling her to the booth next to her, and Derek caused a round of laughter when he physically pushed Ryan’s chair away, grabbing a chair from the empty table behind them so he could sit next to Stiles.

“Oh, young love, how _drôle_!”

Talia reached across the table and smacked the guys arm, “shut up Peter!” She turned to Stiles’ amidst the new round of laughter, “ignore him love, he is just-“

“A penis!” Cora shouted over her mother, and the table began cackling again, and Stiles relaxed a little.

“What?” She laughed as she looked over to Cora, who was trying to avoid a smack from her mother.

“Penis! His name literally means penis!” Cora yelled, still just out of her mother’s reach, but Peter reached over and smacked her while she wasn’t looking, causing Ryan and Derek to almost howl in laughter. “Oi, dicky, that’s not fair!” Cora laughed as she turned to her uncle, who tried swatting her, but missed, although Talia could now reach and smacked Cora’s arm again, who turned with a huge smile on her face, disbelief in her eyes as she looked at her mom.

Stiles laughed quietly, trying to take in everything at the table. You would have thought, with the amount of noise they made, that there were 20 people, but there were only 7, excluding Stiles.  She jumped when Derek leaned over and whispered in her ear, “you ok?” She turned to him and smiled, putting her hand out slightly so he would hold it.

“Yes, I’m fine Der.”

“Good, I told you it would be ok,” he reached over and placed his free hand under her chin, pulling her face up slightly as he kissed her, and they both smiled as the table devolved into “coo’s” and “ah’s”, “Shut up, all of you!” Derek griped, his lips still against Stiles’.

“What can I get you all?” Derek looked up, and reached his hand over his shoulder to shake the hand of the waiter.

“Hey Marc, good to see you man! Can you bring us a jug of sangria, 4 glasses, and 4 beers please? Maybe also bring a couple garlic focaccias while they are all abusing one another.”

“No problem Derek, will bring it all now.”

Derek turned back to Stiles, and moved his chair closer to her, before he gave up entirely. “You are too far away, come sit on my lap.”

Stiles laughed, knowing the family would have some comment, but immediately got up and sat on his lap, laying an arm over his shoulder.

“Ah!” Laura looked at Cora, and simultaneously they looked at Stiles and cupped their faces at Stiles, who blushed furiously and laughed.

“So, Stiles, what are your intentions with my nephew?”

Stiles’ eyes went wide as she looked at Peter, and her silence grabbed everyone’s attention, further deepening her blush.

“She’s just using me for the private beach.” Derek deadpanned from slightly below her, and she looked at him with a shocked expression, before she lifted an eyebrow and smiled devilishly.

“No no, don’t talk about things you don’t know, it’s your shower I’m after!”

Derek laughed and pulled her tighter, and she placed her lips on his temple as everyone laughed too.

“So, his shower huh? What _have_ you two been getting up to?” Peter winked at Stiles who, once again, turned bright red and laughed in embarrassment.

“Tiling.” Derek looked up at Stiles and nodded slightly, “just renewing the tiling.” That didn’t help Stiles at all who tried to hide behind Derek’s’ head as Peter laughed again.

“Sangria?” The waiter, Marc, had arrived, and Derek scooted them both out the way slightly so Marc could put the jug down.

“Thanks, that’s for the ladies.”

“No problem,” Marc poured the sangria into the 4 glasses, leaving the half full jug on the table as he passed the glasses around.

“Thanks,” Stiles smiled at him as she took a sip, happy for the distraction.

Marc placed the beers on the table, along with the two garlic focaccias and left.

“Stiles, this Friday, would you like to come shopping me and Laura? We have a thing this weekend that we need clothes for.”

Stiles smiled at Cora, “sure, I’d love to. What’s happening this weekend?”

“Little function at our house, you have to come!” Talia reached over and grasped Stiles hand, squeezing it slightly. “We usually have a family do every Saturday, like yesterday, mostly, but sometimes it’s a bit of a bigger gathering, like this coming weekend.”

“Oh, thank you, I’d love to come. Can I bring anything?”

Don, Derek and Ryan all yelled ‘no’, laughing when they looked at each other.

“You have no idea how much that one,” Don pointed at Talia, “loves to plan, so everything is taken care of!”

“Oh, I’m a ‘that one’ now, huh?” Talia crumpled her serviette and tossed it at Don, but missed by a mile, making the table laugh again. “Yeah, you better just laugh and not say anything else, or I’ll make it a black-tie event!”

Derek groaned next to her, resting his head on her shoulder, looking up at her with sad eyes. “My dear mother has these dreams of a fancy family photo, all of us dressed up.”

“It’s probably some kind of abuse, it’s awful.” Cora added seriously.

“Yeah, animal abuse…” Peter muttered, earning a laugh from everyone, and a smack from Cora.

“Shut up, pecker.” Cora and Laura laughed at that, while Peter stole Cora’s sangria and downed it. “No, that’s not fair!” Cora returned the favour and whipped Peter’s beer from in front of him, doing her best to down it before he grabbed it, raising it victoriously when there was still some left in the bottle.

“You are all mental, absolutely crazy. I don’t know where I came from.” Ryan spoke up, the table going silent.

“Hey? And what am I?” Derek pushed Ryan’s shoulder.

“Crazy, just like the rest of them.” He looked around the table, “you should have heard what they were doing yest-“

Derek shoved him so hard than Ryan flew off his chair and landed on his ass, bursting in laughter.

“Oh Derek, Stiles, what _is_ he talking about?” Peter looked at Stiles, winking again as she laughed, looking at Derek.

“A movie. That’s it. Hot chocolate, the works!” Derek looked proud of his attempted deflection.

“Oh, the works! Did you hear that?” Don looked around the table, “the works!” They all started laughing, Derek and Stiles sharing a sober look before they broke into laughter too.

“While I remember, and certainly not to change the subject, I am leaving next Monday, for about 2 weeks for that role I told you about.” Derek was looking at his mom, who smiled proudly.

“Derek, that’s wonderful news!” Talia looked at Don and they shared a sweet smile.

“Hang on, what about Stiles?” Cora looked at Talia, and then all eyes were on Stiles.

“What about me?” She looked down at Derek, before looking back up at everyone else. “I’m not going with.”

“Will you be at the hotel?” Laura asked, Cora glanced at Laura before looking back at Stiles.

“Yeah, probably.” She smiled at Laura, who’s eyes flicked to Derek quickly before she smiled back.

The others began to chatter amongst themselves, as Derek moved Stiles slightly so she faced him more. “I’m really going to miss you, you know that right?” He kissed her lips gently, feeling her smile.

“I’ll miss you too, Derek.” She whispered softly to him, her forehead resting on his. “I can’t believe I’ve been here for a week already, and in the last 3 days…” She trailed off, but Derek knew what she meant.

It _had_ been an incredible few days.


	22. Chapter 22

Stiles and Derek ended up back at the beach house, almost 10 hours after they all met for lunch. Where the time had gone, Stiles couldn’t tell but she _had_ loved every moment.

“You want anything before bed?” Derek ran his fingers down Stiles’ face, before cupping it, smiling when she leaned into his hand.

“Nah, just a shower.”

“Come on then.” He dropped his hand from her face and grabbed her hand, guiding her back to his bathroom, turning the shower on and pulling Stiles close. He grabbed the hem of her shirt and gently pulled it up, and she lifted her arms to help him. He threw the shirt to the floor, and went for her jeans, popping the button and gently pushing them down her hips. She put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself as he worked off each leg, running his fingers up her sides when they joined the shirt on the floor. “So beautiful…” He trailed off, leaning down and kissing her neck, feeling her arms tighten around his neck.

“Shower with me?” She breathed, pulling away from him to look at his eyes.

“Of course.” He kissed her again and she took the time to undress him, pulling off his shirt first, and running her fingers down his chest, his abs, until they stopped at the waistband of his jeans. She quickly unbuttoned them, and he forced them down quickly, making Stiles laugh.

“Hey, how come you get to undress me but I can’t?” She smirked at him, winding her arms around his neck as he grasped behind her to unhook her bra.

“Well, you needed to use me to hold yourself up. Don’t know if you could hold me up, thought this was easier.”

She laughed, releasing his neck so her bra fell to her feet. He wasted no time in hooking his fingers in her panties and pushing them down to, where she stood biting her lip, staring at him.

“Fuck Stiles!” He practically jumped out of his briefs, and lunged at her, pulling her up by her ass. She locked her legs around him as he entered the shower, backing her up against the wall, grinning when she gasped at the cold tiles at her back. He kissed her fervently, moving a leg to pin her to the wall as much as he could so his hands could roam her body. He licked into her mouth, teasing her tongue as he pinched her nipples, breathing in her moans as she bucked against him.

“Are we really doing this?” She moved her head so he could mouth at her neck.

“Well, I’m starting in here, but,” he bit gently at the junction of her neck, feeling her tremble, “I don’t want you to get hurt.” She only nodded, unable to string any words together.

He lowered her to the floor, making sure she was steady on her feet before he let her go. “Turn around, precious.” She did as told, leaning against the now warmer wall, and couldn’t hold back her moans when he began washing down her back. He slowly rubbed from her shoulders to the top of her ass, her legs straining from standing on tip toes, trying to get his hands lower. He laughed lowly, nibbling at her ear before he reached in front of her and began massaging her boobs and her tummy, purposefully avoiding her pussy until she groaned in frustration. “What baby girl?” He whispered in her ear, his hands now tracing a horizontal line just above her pubic bone.

“Make me come Derek, please,” she looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes wild, lips between her teeth.

Derek groaned, making sure his hand was well rinsed before he rubbed her clit. The moan that he dragged from her throat made him involuntarily push up against her, making her moan louder.

“Ah fu- _fuck_ , Derek, fuck me! _Please_!” She pushed her ass back into him, and he almost gave in.

Almost.

“No babe...” He kissed her neck as he removed his finger from her, and turned her around briskly, kissing her quickly before he turned away. Stiles started laughing when she saw how fast he was washing himself, throwing a dirty smile over his shoulder.

“I wanna wash you too, moron!” She ran her hands down his back, and he turned to her, grabbing her hands just before she grasped his cock. He swallowed and took a deep breathe.

“Fuck the shower!” He muttered, before pushing the lever down and stopping the flow of water. He grabbed Stiles and picked her up again, her legs easily wrapping around his waist as he almost ran to the bed, depositing her still wet on the blanket. He lowered his head, taking her right nipple into his mouth, her fingers winding in his hair as she sighed. She wriggled down, breaking the delicious connection between her nipple and his mouth, and pushed her hips up, trying to grind against his dick. “Fuck babe, come here.” He practically growled, picking her up quickly, before he swapped places and sat down, moving to sit at the headboard. She straddled his hips, and the moment he stopped moving, she sat up slightly, grabbed his cock and slowly lowered onto him, her moans shaky by the time she was fully seated. “Ah fuck babe,” Derek threw his head back before he looked back at Stiles, grabbing her hips and helping her raise up enough, and letting her drop down his dick again. She grasped at his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin as she tried to hold on to him, until she pushed up off him, smiling at his growl.

“Come here baby!” He tried to grab her but she moved back, slowly turning around and lowering onto her hands, staring at him over her shoulder.

“No, you come here.” It took him all of two seconds to jump up and slam into her from behind, Stiles shouting in pleasure, her arms giving out shortly after. He grabbed her hips again, pounding into her, listening to her debauched moans, before he slowed, grinding into her, his fingers tracing down her back feeling way she trembled, “Der,” she moaned, pushing back into him to get him to move.

He laughed, “what?” He didn’t move any quicker, still just grinding his hips against her ass, consistently putting pressure on her g-spot from his position.

“Move, dammit!” She looked over her shoulder again, and her lust-blown pupils spurred him to move. He pulled out, watching as she frowned at him as he sat back on his heels.

“Turn over.” His voice was so husky a shiver ran through her body as she turned over, her legs spread on either side of his knees. “Fuck, look at you.” He reached out and circled her clit, smiling as she jerked at the touch. He reached behind him, grabbing a pillow and lifting her ass to put it beneath her.

She moaned, rolling her nipples as she watched him with wild eyes, his fingers running up and down her inner thighs, spreading her legs more. He shifted up, kneeling between her legs, making sure to spread his knees to keep her legs wide open, before he slowly pushed into her, grinning when she arched her back and moved her hips in a circle.

“How’s that baby?” He continued to move in and out of her slowly, her breathing becoming shallow.

“Fuck, yes, please don’t stop Derek, please don’t stop!”

“I won’t, I promise,” He lowered down onto her, keeping up his slow, tantalizing pace, watching Stiles break apart.

“Ah, fuck, Der-fuck!” He pinched her nipple, and bit gently on the other, the sensation throwing Stiles over the edge as her orgasm dragged her down. “Derek, _Derek_ , ah-Der!” Her words morphed into a load moan, and Derek began thrusting into her faster when she was halfway through her orgasm, her incoherent moans becoming louder the longer her orgasm continued. His thrusts became erratic as he came, wrapping his arms under her body, gripping her waist and shoulder as he pulled her down onto his cock hard, her lewd moan sending another shiver down his spine,before he relaxed on her, placing his head on her chest as his orgasm ended.

She took a shaky breath, her fingers finally relaxing enough that she wasn't digging into his irritated skin, and she slowly moved to wrap her arms around his neck, placing her lips against his temple. He moved slightly, taking most of his weight off her body, before they fell asleep, still wrapped up in one another. 


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day early? Go me!
> 
> Enjoy!

They spent the week playing on the beach, _trying_ to watch movies without jumping each other, and spending inordinate amounts of time in bed, wrapped up in one another. Falling into a happy domestic bliss was the easiest thing in the world; he would bring her coffee in bed, and she would get him to put it down before pulling him on top of her. Her first coffee was always cold, and she wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. They would make lunch together, relentlessly teasing one another until the tension snapped and lunch was forgotten for an hour or two. It was a perfect week.

The ringing of that blasted cell phone is what woke Stiles. “Der. Der! Fuck Derek, pick up your phone!”

“Babe, that’s your phone.”

Stiles sat quickly, looking around in the sheets for the phone she realised was actually hers.

“Hello?”

“Good morning Stiles, how are you? Did I wake you?”

“Oh, hi Laura. No, I’m always up at the ass crack of dawn, don’t even worry!”

“Ok, ha ha, you are so funny. It's 11:30.”

Stiles opened her eyes and pulled her phone away from her ear to check the time. “Holy crap, Derek, get up! It’s almost lunch time! And I haven’t even had coffee!”

“You let it go cold, if you could control yourself for one second, you would have been able to drink it.”

“Yeah, cos I’m sure it was _such_ a hardship for you buddy!” She giggled, looking over at him.

He started laughing and pulled her down, rolling over onto her, “I _never_ have a problem with your control.” He emphasised his point by rolling his hips against hers.

Stiles was breathless with that one movement, and moved up to latch onto Derek’s neck.

“What’s that noise?” He pulled away slightly, concentrating on something.

She stopped for a second, before continuing to leave a mark on his neck.

“Seriously, what’s that noise? Weren’t you on the phone?”

“Oh FUCK!” She pushed him off and groped the bed for her phone, before grimacing at Derek who began laughing so hard the bed was shaking.

“Derek, stop! It’s Laura!” She quietly sniped at him. “Hi Laura!”

“Oh hi, so you do remember I called! I was feeling quite forgotten.”

“Ok, sorry! Please can we forget about this?” She was practically begging, with Derek still laughing next to her. She kicked out and pushed him off the bed, laughing when he hit the floor.

“Stiles?”

She paid attention to the phone again with an inward groan, “yes?”

“For god’s sake, leave the room or something! It’s Friday, I'm fetching you in half an hour, you _better_ be ready!”

Stiles looked at Derek who was staring at her from the floor with a small smile on his lips. “Why?”

“Why are you asking why?”

“Uh, well, why are you fetching me, again?”

“Family get together? Tomorrow? You said you’d come shopping with me and Cora?”

“Oh! Yeah! Friday! Gotcha! I will be ready!”

“I would like to believe you; but can I speak to my idiot brother?”

Stiles laughed a little guiltily, “yeah, see you soon!” She passed the phone to Derek who raised an eyebrow questioningly. She shook her head, stood up quickly, took her shirt off (the only thing she was wearing) and threw it at Derek with a smirk and a kiss before she sauntered off to the bathroom, listening to his groan.

“I will do whatever I want Laura, and I’ll do it whenever I want!” He went silent for a beat, Stiles listening over the running shower. “No, don’t do that, she will be ready. Yes, I promise. Oh, go away!” Stiles looked through the bathroom door to see Derek walking in, taking his shirt off.

“Um, not to sound not interested, but your sister-“

“I think we can do this whole shower without mentioning that, hmm?” He kissed down her neck as his fingers trailed her sides.

“Ah, fuck, yes,” She gripped his shoulders to steady herself, and a moment later they heard the front door open. “Who’s that?”

Derek looked into her eyes, before he rolled his. “Bet anything it’s-“

“It’s Laura, you better be decent!” came the yell from the hallway.

Stiles and Derek shouted out at the same time, Derek saying “We are in the shower!”, and Stiles with “I am in the shower!” They shared a look and began laughing again, spurred on by the load groan they heard from outside the bathroom door.

“Good god, please, one of you get out the shower. Preferably Stiles, I like spending time with her-“

“Screw you, Laura.”

“Because she is sweet and innocent. Or at least, I thought she was.”

“Just, give me 5 minutes Laur, I will be quick!”

“So will I,” Derek growled in her eyes lowly, earning a belly laugh from Stiles.

“Down, you animal!” She kissed him before pushing him away a little so he was under the other shower head. “You stay there, and I’ll stay here, and the sooner we finish...” she wiggled her eyebrows and Derek just laughed.

“Don’t ever do that again, just shower and go!”

“So dramatic, wow!”

He turned her shower head off in response.

“No, put that back on!”

She finished quickly, keeping her eyes away from Derek, knowing it wouldn’t take much for him to distract her again, and she grabbed a towel, drying inefficiently before she ran to the bedroom, greeting Laura who was sitting on the chest of drawers.

“Hi!”

Laura nodded, and pointed to her watch.

“Yeah yeah, I still have 15 minutes. I can do it!” She grabbed one of her dresses from Derek’s wardrobe, slipping it on over her damp body, and grabbed her makeup bag, only putting on mascara, before she brushed her hair and attempted a messy bun, but ultimately gave in trying and went with a French braid. “Not long now!” She nudged Laura’s legs and rummaged through her drawer, grabbing a bra and panties. She walked into the bathroom, pulling the door shut behind her and stuck her head into the shower, smacking Derek’s ass.

“What-why are you still here?”

“Wanted to see you one last time.”

“I might pull you back in…” He reached out, grabbing the strap of her dress and pulling it down slightly.

“Derek, I will come in there and kick your ass if you even try anything.  Stiles, let’s go!”

“Your sister is so bossy!” She quickly lowered her straps, loving the way Derek’s eyes roamed her chest as she put her bra on, pulling the dress straps up and putting her panties on. She blew him a kiss, and waved as she ran out the bathroom, listening to his laugh.

“Laura, I swear, one day, I will get you back for this!”

“Well Der, let’s just say this is me getting you back for being born, so it’s even!” Stiles laughed with them, loving the sibling love-hate that they always showed each other, once they let you see it.

“Laura, stop taking your sweet time!” Stiles shot over her shoulder, a new round of laughter erupting from Laura, before she ran up to Stiles and grabbed her side, making her twitch and augh.

“You know you are talking such crap!”

They left arm in arm, climbing into the cab, stopping at the hotel to fetch Cora before they went to the mall.

 

“So, what are you looking for, exactly?”

Stiles was searching through the rails of clothes, not sure how she could be helping.

“Well, you need to find something for you.”

Stiles spun around, looking from Cora to Laura repeatedly. “What?”

The sisters shared a look and laughed. “Stiles, what made you think you aren’t coming to the family do?” Stiles stared at Cora, still not entirely sure what she meant.

“But, family?”

Cora nodded, “yeah, family. Crazy concept, I know, but tomorrow, you are meeting them. All of them. So, try on this dress.”

“And then this skirt.”

Stiles took the clothes, still trying to comprehend how she was invited to this, but stumbled off to the changing room and began undressing, smiling wickedly when an idea came to her. She rummaged for her phone in her bag, double checked it was on silent, and snapped a picture of herself in the mirror, in just her bra and panties, and sent it to Derek.

“Are you done?”

She threw phone at her bag, and stammered out “nearly” just as Laura whipped open the curtain, looking her up and down.

“Right, so you look awesome in that little ensemble, but I don’t think it’s really appropriate for a family gathering. Put the dress on!”

Stiles blushed furiously and did as told, smiling as she looked in the mirror at her reflection. The azure blue dress was just above knee length, fitted at her waist and then flared out a little.

“I like this.”

“Good choice, I do too. Cora?”

“I picked it, of course I like it!”

Laura rolled her eyes and Stile laughed, closing the curtain to undress. She checked her phone once she was dressed in her clothes, biting her lip to stifle her moan as she opened the shirtless picture from Derek, he must have just finished exercising, and was sweaty and ripped and Stiles just wanted to lick from his pecs down to his-

“ _Such_ a great picture, can we go?”

Stiles shrieked a little, pulling her phone to her chest as she turned to look at a highly amused Laura.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’m taking you home, right after we eat lunch. So, for the love of god, _please_ put your phone away.”

Cora was cackling behind them, and Stiles started laughing too, so grateful for the people in her life, even at mortifying times like this.


	24. Chapter 24

“But if I-“

“No.”

Stiles looked over at Derek, and imagined strangling him.

“OK Derek, but-“

“No, Stiles!” He stood up from the bed and walked over to her, pulling her into a tight hug. “The dress looks amazing, and I can’t wait to see it on the floor later.”

She laughed, her face pressed against his shoulder.

“It looks nice with the black flat shoes-“

“Pumps.”

“Sure, ok. Those. It also looks nice with the blue high heels. You do have to pick a pair though, and the we need to go.”

She looked up at him and frowned dramatically. “You aren’t helping, but you are, and that’s so frustrating.”

“OK, what would help?”

“Say ‘the blue shoes babe’ or ‘the black shoes sugar lips’.” She dipped her voice low, trying to mimic him, and only succeeded in sounding like a constipated walrus.

Derek laughed, and she lost herself in the feeling of the way his body pressed against hers as he laughed. “Is that what I sound like?”

She nodded solemnly at him before she laughed, “no, you don’t!”

She stepped on her tip toes to kiss his jaw quickly, before she pulled away, putting on one high heel and one pump, and taking a picture in the mirror, and sending the picture on.

“What are you doing now?” He sounded exasperated behind her, and she felt bad. Kind of. A little.

“Asking a professional.”

“Who?”

She ignored him in favour of the message from Cora that lit up her phone.

>The heels, always choose heels!

Stiles smiled as she kicked off the pump, and put on the heel before she turned to Derek.

“Ok, I’m ready.”

He smiled and grabbed her hand, muttering ‘thank god’ as he winked at her.

They quickly got into his car, and he drove them out to a gorgeous house, where it seemed like every car within a 5 km radius was parked outside of. She gulped as she took in the sheer number, and felt Derek wind his fingers around hers, squeezing gently.

“Hey, stop stressing, it’s gonna be ok!”

She looked at him and shook her head, “how do you know that? Maybe I’ll forget how to eat and I’ll just smear food on my face and the furniture. Or maybe I’ll pour all my drinks on the floor. Throw my shoes at strangers, who are literally everyone. Or what if-“

“What if you are just trying to stall and I’m not gonna buy it, and I’m still gonna take you in there?”

She opened her mouth, hoping her mouth had a good argument, when there was a knock at her window. She turned and smiled at Cora who was standing there, waving for her to come out, which she somehow did without thinking. Derek laughed behind her and got out too, coming around the car to her side, grabbing her hand.

“Stiles, stop freaking out. I’ll be with you all night!”

She nodded at Cora, and let Derek lead her inside, and if she thought the restaurant had been loud, this was otherworldly. There was noise coming from each direction, but she was immediately pulled into a hug from someone who smelled amazing.

“I am so glad you are here!”

“Talia?” She mumbled against the persons shoulder, who just laughed.

“Yes sweetheart, thank you for coming. What would you like to drink?”

Stiles pulled away and smiled, taking a deep breath and following Talia to the kitchen.

“Your house is so beautiful!”

Talia smiled, “thank you! I’m hoping you will still come visit while Derek is gone?”

She nodded after a beat, “I don’t want to put you out.”

“Oh, no, you would never! I would love to have you over!” She passed Stiles a flute of blush champagne, and Stiles thanked her, before she turned to find Derek missing. She peeped her head out the kitchen door, trying to spot him in the crowd, but Cora found her first, and dragged her into the crowd, introducing her as she went. Stiles tried to smile, not thinking she would remember anyone’s names, but soon found herself less anxious, probably due to the simply divine champagne she had.

“Hey gorgeous.” She looked over her shoulder and smiled at Derek, who had been missing for a while.

“Hey yourself! Where were you?” She turned to face him, and he snaked his arm around her waist.

“I was talking to everyone, doing my own rounds. Sorry I left you with Cora, but I thought they would have less comments about us if we went around separately.”

Stiles laughed, and was about to answer when someone else entered the house.

“Stiles, Derek, good to see you! How has the _tiling_ been coming along?” Peter spoke loudly and almost everyone looked from Peter to Derek with amused expressions.

“Peter, good to see you, it’s all fine thank you.”

“Oh Derek, but your uncle does tiling! Who did you get in to do yours?”

Derek looked over to his aunt Jane, who looked surprised. “Oh, um, I did it.”

“Stiles was _helping.”_ Peter wasn’t helping this at all, and behind her, Stiles heard Laura and Cora laughing.

“Yes, and it’s done, and it’s all fine!” Derek smiled, and Stiles could hear he wanted to laugh.

“What tiles did you use dear? And did you get the right adhesive? And did you grout it properly?”

Derek looked exasperated and started laughing, and Stiles joined soon after, her face heating up.

“There never was any tiling, Aunty Jane!” Cora sing-songed from behind them and Stiles wanted to drown her in her champagne.

Talia and Don jumped in, rescuing Derek and Stiles with a laugh and they escaped through the back door, sitting on the patio as the laughter roared from the house.

“Well, my mom must have explained it all!” Derek looked at Stiles who just laughed.

“We need to get Peter back, ok?”

He laughed and kissed her, pulling her onto his lap to cuddle her when they pulled away.

“So, what do we do?” He whispered in her ear.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally missed this chapter, wrote the next chapter first (so ready for the next part of the story)!  
> Sorry for the late update, enjoy!

The woke early, both wrapped up in one another, lips finding each other without help from their eyes.

“Good morning precious.”

She giggled, opening one eye to look at him, and laughed when she saw he was doing the same one-eyed glance.

“Well good morning handsome! What’s the plan for today?”

He opened both his eyes, faux-shock colouring his face. “What, you aren’t gonna jump my bones this morning?”

She laughed again, hitting him lightly on the chest. “Rude! But seriously, no, because you haven’t brought me coffee.”

He chuckled, and climbed out of bed, grabbing hold of her hand that she held towards him, and pulled her to her feet. “What would you like to do today Agie?”

He was quick to jump out of smacking distance, and Stiles chased him down the hallway to the kitchen, slowing down as a smile grew on her face.

“Der? Where you hiding babe?” She laughed as she darted around the kitchen, searching for him, when she heard the patio door slide. She held a hand to her mouth to smother her laughter as she went to find him, sneaking to the door quietly, but still not finding Derek. She stepped out onto the patio, her eyes darting around quickly, as she walked down the stairs to the pool area, trying to see where Derek would fit to actually hide, but his arms suddenly wrapped around her waist with a triumphant ‘HA!’ as he jumped into the pool, taking Stiles with him.

They were both laughing as they surfaced, and she clung to him planting kisses on his wet scruff.

“So, what are we gonna do today?” She smiled as she looked down at him, and he started walking to the pool stairs, still carrying her out.

“I made plans to go see my family.” He helped her pull off her wet shirt, and added his pj pants to the pile, both quickly getting into the house in their naked states.

“For you?”

Derek frowned as he looked at her, “no, for us, why would you think I wouldn’t want to include you?”

Stiles sighed, avoiding his gaze for a couple of moments until she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “No, that wasn’t my problem. Just thought you could have included me in making these plans.”

Derek watched her walk back to the bedroom, and he followed after a moment. “Is everything ok Stiles?”

She turned to him from next to the shower, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

He rolled his eyes, rolling his head back and putting his hands on his hips.

“Don’t do that Derek, don’t act like I’ve done something wrong!”

His eyes snapped to hers and he let out an angry burst of laughter, “right, because you are treating me like I’ve done nothing wrong.”

She returned his short laugh, “I just think that you need to remember I am my own person, and I should have a say in what we do, it’s not all up to you! Why would you assume I always want to do what you want to do?”

“Are you serious?” His voice rose, “I make you coffee, and honestly, turning the machine on for one cup is a bit of a schlep, but I do it because I know you like coffee in the morning.”

“Oh, right, so now that’s my fault too? So what, I shouldn’t want anything? And don’t yell at me!”

“You are yelling at me now, and I never said that Stiles –“

“Oh please Derek, I know what you are trying to say. I should just be happy with everything you do, because you don’t do anything wrong.”

She turned quickly, getting into the shower, and Derek left her there, instead grabbing clean shorts and going out onto the patio, and went to sit on the steps leading to the pool area. He rubbed his hands down his face, groaning.

He turned when he heard sniffing behind him, and saw Stiles, dripping wet from what little shower she had, wrapped haphazardly in a towel.

“We just had our first fight and I hated it.” She blubbered, her free hand wiping at her eyes. He took no time in jumping up to grab her, pulling her close and settling on the outdoor couch.

“Hey, it’s ok,” he chuckled slightly, “it had to happen sometime! We are practically living together at the moment.”

She moved her head to look at him through her wet lashes. “I don’t have a problem seeing your family, and I hate that I said that, it’s not what I meant, I just meant that maybe tell me, because I feel like you make plans without checking that I haven’t made plans.”

He nodded, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Ok, I understand that, but did you have plans?” He felt her shake her head after a few beats. “Then I’m sorry for assuming you wanted to see my family, and next time we will both talk before any plans are made.”

“That won’t work all the time though, because what if we have to make plans quickly?”

He laughed and hugged her tighter, “Then we make plans when we need to? And hope that we don’t clash? But we tell each other as soon as we can, agreed?”

She sniffed and nodded. “I’m sorry you make me coff –“

“Don’t even finish that sentence baby, I like making you coffee, I just tried to make a point, that you don’t ask me to make coffee and I do, whether I particularly want to or not, but I suppose it wasn’t the best comparison.” He kissed her head again, “How about we both go have a shower?”

She got up and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the shower.

Later that morning, they both went to his parents’ house, hand in hand, both still riding the high that the amazing make up sex brought them, and could barely keep their hands off each other all night, only adding more fuel to Peter’s teasing, but neither would complain, stealing kisses all night.


	26. Chapter 26

“I’ll call you, ok?”

She nodded, feeling really emotional, and very silly for it.

“Listen to me, don’t worry.” He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face, and she shut her eyes quickly, not trusting herself to not cry. “Please open your eyes.” She shook her head a little, her brow furrowing with the effort to not make a sound. “Baby, please?” He slowly placed his lips on hers, and dragged them across her jaw, moving her head as he went. “Babe?”

“Yeah?” came the soft reply.

“Please look at me.”

“Can’t.” She didn’t speak above a whisper.

“And why is that?”

“Can’t tell you, please just…”

“Just what?”

She shook her head, dislodged his fingers from under her chin and pressed her face against his chest.   
He tightened his arms around her, pressing his lips into her hair, saying nothing until she was ready.

A few minutes passed, and she looked up, opening her eyes to see him. “I’m just really gonna miss you Der.”

He smiled, leaning down to kiss her softly. “I’ll miss you too, without a doubt.”

“Ok, please go.” She pushed away from him and he laughed.

“And now?”

“Better this way.” She was looking down at her feet, and Derek shook his head.

“Nope, I’m not going until I know what’s wrong.” To emphasise his point, he quickly went to the bed and sat down, watching her expectantly.

“No, please, just. Arg! Derek!” She took a deep breath and moved to the balcony door. She hadn’t been to her hotel room in over a week, and she forgot what the view was like. She wasn’t angry with him, just angry that he wouldn’t just go, that he wouldn’t listen. She felt his hands snake around her waist and she grabbed his arms and laid her head back on his chest, closing her eyes. “Der, it’s silly, and I know that. But I can’t help it.”

“Help what babe?”

“Feeling like this.”

“Ok, and how is that, exactly?”

“Silly.”

He laughed quietly in her ear. “Thank god you cleared that up, I understand it all now.”

She laughed with him, relaxing a little more. “I’m like, kind of upset that you are leaving. Even though I know it’s for only 2 weeks, but I can’t help feeling upset by it.”

“Are you angry with me?”

She turned in his arms, looking up at him, “no, not at all! I promise! I, it’s just, I don’t know.” She shrugged a little, biting her lip.

“My beautiful girl, you realise that you are feeling this way because you don’t want to miss me, right? That’s all this is?”

She thought for a moment. “Yeah, but –“

“No no, no buts. It’s really not going to be as bad as you think, I promise you that. I’ll get through it all as fast as I can, and I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Yes, but –“

“Hey, I said no buts!” She smiled at him, leaning back in his arms so he was holding her up.

“Sorry, I don’t _want_ to be selfish.”

“Well, truth be told, I like that you wanna be selfish, I like that you don’t want me to go, just because you don’t want to miss me.”

“Yeah well, that’s good, cos that’s what you’re getting.”

He kissed her again, before she grabbed his around his neck and pulled him close.

“One more cuddle and then go, or I’ll lock the door and you will never leave.”

“Wow,” he spoke into her neck as he kissed her gently, “that’s quite a threat.” He pulled away, kissing her one last time before he let her go and grabbed his bag, walking to the door. “I _will_ call you, and I _will_ miss you, and I _will_ be back as soon as I can.” He blew her a kiss across the room as she teared up, and he closed the door behind him.

“I love you”, she whispered quietly to herself, then her eyes went wide as she realised what she said and ran to the door, yanking it open. “I LOVE YOU!” She looked around, searching the empty hallway for Derek, the disappointment stabbing her right in the chest until she felt his hands on her hips, turning her around.

“Knew you’d come out, didn’t know that’s what you’d say!” He looked at her, a huge smile on his face, and she bit her lip trying to hide her smile. “Is it true?” She nodded, releasing her lip and putting her hands on his shoulders. “well, that’s good, because leaving? Yeah, made me realise that maybe, maybe I like you.” She hit him on the shoulder, laughing. “Ok ok, maybe I realised that I’ll miss you when I’m gone!”

“Derek!” She laughed out, hitting him again.

“Or, maybe I realised that I love you.”

He barely got the words out of his mouth before she was kissing him, and he pulled her up by her thighs, her legs wrapping around his waist.

“Aw, their first ‘I love you’!” Derek and Stiles broke apart and looked to where Laura’s voice had come from, and Cora was there with her phone raised.

“Are you taking a picture?” Stiles laughed, her cheeks turning red.

“No!” Cora said, indignantly.

“Good.”

“I’m taking a video.”

Stiles laughed and straightened her legs, allowing Derek to put her down.

“We came because we knew you two wouldn’t pull away for one moment, so go Derek, and we are taking Stiles out.”

Stiles looked over to Laura, before Derek’s laugh caught her attention, and she looked up to his as he leaned down to kiss again.

“The old sister has spoken,” he stage-whispered, Laura’s indignant squawk making Stiles laugh.

He kissed her, smiling when he pulled away. “I’ll call you the moment I land, I love you Stiles.”

She smiled, feeling like her cheeks might shatter from the force, “I love you too Der.”

“Mr Hale?”

They all turned to see Andrew waiting with his golf cart. Derek pressed a kiss to Stiles’ forehead and walked to the cart, dumping his bag on the back and getting in, waving to the ladies as he disappeared around the corner, Andrew wasting no time in getting Derek to the airport on time.

“Cheer up, he won’t be long.”

Stiles smiled and looked at Cora, “I know, so what are we doing?”

“MANICURE!”

Stiles jumped and looked at Laura, listening to Cora’s groan.

“I am literally around that salon all day, remind me again why we are doing this?”

“Because, dear sister,” Laura snaked her arm around Cora’s shoulders, “we are going out for dinner tonight, and you know this, so shut up and let’s go.”

Stiles pulled her door shut, her phone in her pocket, and turned, her arms immediately linked with Laura and Cora, and they slowly walked to the salon, discussing colours and where they were going for dinner.

Halfway through their manicures, Laura and Cora noticed Stiles’ silence, and Laura nudged Stiles, breaking her reverie.

“What’s up?”

She sighed, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled. “Doyathinkiztoosoon?”

“Um, and try again in English?”

Stiles looked at Cora and laughed, a slight blush settling on her face. “Do you, uh, think it’s too soon? Derek and me, I mean.”

“No.”

Stiles barely finished her question when Laura spoke up, and Stiles looked at her, shrugging. “But -“

“Ok, one, shut up. Two, no, it’s not too soon, even if anyone else’s opinion mattered -“

“But Laura, I -“

“Stiles! Shhhh!”

Laura glared at Stiles until she mimed zipping her lips, a smile on her pursed lips.

“Thank you. As I was saying, no it’s not too soon, not that anyone else should have a say. Every relationship is different, and yes you only met like 2 weeks ago, but if it’s how you feel, you aren’t wrong. Do you remember the first day we met?”

“Yes, you saw me taking Derek to my hotel room.” She looked at her lap and blushed slightly.

“What? OK, no, not that day. That was at night, anyway, I mean when we all met up at the beach house?”

Stiles looked at Laura, frowning. Cora was focused on her nails, having opted to paint them herself, leaving the technicians to do Laura and Stiles. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“You said you had gone to his house.”

Stiles remembered, and frowned again. “You seemed surprised when I told you, right?”

Laura was nodding when Stiles looked at her, “yes, very. Derek had never taken anyone home, to his house, before. Never mind bringing someone to the beach house, and you did both in one day! You might not realise this, but Derek has treated you differently than anyone else he has dated, right from the beginning.”

“Ok, but we didn’t exactly start dating like a normal couple!”

“How’s that?”

Stiles sighed, rubbing her eyes with her dry nails hand, the other still under the UV lamp. “Nothing we have done is normal. We literally met on the street, and then went for coffee, and then _dinner.”_

“Stiles, do you know how many people start dating because of random encounters? I don’t see what your point is?”

To be honest, Stiles wasn’t sure either. It didn’t feel wrong. She had told her dad about Derek last Friday, after her shopping date with Laura and Cora, and he had seemed both happy and hesitant. Probably hesitant because he was so far away, with no chance of meeting the guy that Stiles was involved with. How the hell would she tell her dad that she loved Derek?

Her phone vibrated, and she quickly grabbed it, ignoring Laura’s laugh when she smiled coyly at the screen. Laura was right, it didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

 

>I love you precious xx


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, did I just update this?! Call the police, because it sure as hell couldn't be me!
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, to say the end of last year and the beginning of this one were rough, doesn't even begin to cover all the crap I went through!  
> But, I'm back, and I have so many ideas for this fic that I want to get out there, get it finished for you guys!  
> So I hope you enjoy, and I PROMISE I won't take 3 lifetimes to update again!
> 
> It is short, but I had to start somewhere, right??
> 
> xx

After their manicures, Laura took Stiles back to her room, waiting for her to pack another bag.

“Tell me again why I’m wasting this gorgeous room and staying out again?” She smiled over her shoulder to Laura, who threw a pillow at her, narrowly missing her head.

“Because, I promised Derek that I’d take you out to keep you busy! So we are going out for drinks and dinner with Cora, and then we are staying at the beach house, and you will have a damn good time!”

Stiles laughed, shoving more clothes in her bag. “Ok, bossy…”

Laura smiles, “hey, you don’t get to be the older sibling and not be bossy, it’s one of the perks!”

"Sure must be..." Stiles stage-whispered, laughing at Laura's indignant huffing.

“I just have one request then Laur, can I pay?”

Laura had begun to shake her head when Stiles interrupted, “my mom told me to spend money on memories, so I want to pay!”

Laura stopped, and beckoned Stiles over, to come sit next to her on the bed. “How do you feel about everything? I can only imagine how hard it was to lose your mom, I’d be lost if my mom went on holiday, she is always there to support us.”

Stile sighed, looking down at her fidgeting hands. “It’s hard, and I sometimes wonder if that will get better?” She looked at Laura and sighed, “I want to tell her about Derek, about you all, I want to tell her about school. About how much I like being in LA. I want to tell her how dad has become more quiet, which is strange anyway. He was never especially loud and outgoing; me and my mom used to run around the house, creating havoc, making mess, and my dad loved watching us having fun. He never complained. But that changed when mom died, he kind of, I don’t know. Relies on tv for distraction. Relies on work. Throws himself into work to avoid reality. I have so many things I never told my mom, and so many thing I will want to tell her, and it never gets easier knowing than I lost my chance.” She began sobbing, and Laura immediately pulled her in for a cuddle, rubbing a hand up and down her back.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

Stiles sniffed, sitting up and wiping her eyes with her fingers. “No, I don’t mind. It’s not something I can change, her not being around, but I don’t want to forget her. I don’t want to forget the little things.’ She started giggling a little hysterically, making Laura frown slightly.

“There was one time, we went to the shop, and when we were trying to go home, I mean we are in the car at this point. She has unlocked the car, started the engine, and she starts looking for the car keys. She turned the car off, got out to look under the car, looked in the boot, upended her handbag, I was pretty much killing myself in the front seat. She eventually called my dad, to tell him she needed him to bring the spare kay, and my dad heard the car start. I swear we have never laughed so hard, after she realised she had had the keys the whole time.” She wiped another errant tear from her eye, before she looked at Laura. “She was an amazing woman, and nothing will change that. I just wish I didn’t feel so… alone I guess.” She blushed, looking down at her hands when Laura reached over for them.

“You aren’t alone, I promise. You have your dad, Derek, me, Cora, all of us. And I can honestly say if you ever want to talk to someone like your mom? My mom will always listen, she is so fond of you, and she will _never_ turn you away.”

Stiles had begun crying again, and grabbed onto Laura, probably ruining her shirt with tears, but Laura didn’t care. She laid her cheek on Stiles’ head, holding her tight. “You are kind of stuck with all of us now. I know where you stay.”

Stiles laughed at that, “yeah, only cos you know the hotel like the back of your hand, rude!”

Laura shrugged, “doesn’t matter. I will find you. So, finish packing and we can get going!”

Stiles looked at Laura as she stood, shoving the last of her things in her bag.

“Thanks Laur.”

“Anytime lovie.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have updated the tags a little, PLEASE note there is an injury in this chapter, I tried not to be too graphic, but I'd rather be overly cautious! The injury occurs right after Cora dunks Laura in the pool, and the description pretty much ends a couple lines later, when Laura laughs with Stiles about shoes (wow I made that sound so not traumatic?)
> 
> Enjoy!

“Cheers to us, ladies!” Cora smiled at her sister and Stiles, chinking their wine glasses together.

“Sure, why not!” Stiles laughed, “to us!”

They had gotten back from a simply superb dinner a little while ago, and they were sitting around the pool on the loungers, heels kicked off. They all had a buzz going, and Stiles may have sent Derek a couple of raunchy drunk texts, which she received even raunchier responses to. She was missing him terribly, and it hadn’t even been a full day. His flight had felt like a lifetime to Stiles, the 5 hours dragging until he let her know he was safe in New York. It had been a great evening with Laura and Cora, and Stiles felt that it had actually been good for her and Derek to be apart, although she wasn’t sure how long she would appreciate the space.

Stiles came out of her reverie when Cora poked her in the ribs, and she laughed, pulling away. “What the hell do you want?” She laughed, pointing at Cora with a shaky finger, who had devolved into hysterical laughter. Laura was sniggering, filling her glass again.

“You two are idiots.” She took a large sip of the ruby red wine, and settled back onto her lounger.

“Well you are idioter!” Cora snorted, and Laura threw her head back, laughing so hard her wine was sloshing out of her glass onto her dress.

“Ah shit, Cor, look what you did!” Laura put her glass down on the table and stood up, whipping her dress off quickly, before she smiled at Cora. “Last one in has to go on a blind date!”

Cora didn’t even wait for Laura to finish and she jumped into the pool, still in her dress and wine glass in hand. Laura hadn’t realised and jumped in after Cora, raising her hands in premature triumph until Cora dunked her.

Stiles laughed as she watched them, yelling at each other between laughter, splashing water at each other, until Laura screamed, hobbling to the side of the pool, a billowing redness following her in the water.

“Ah shit, Laura!” Stiles put her glass down and ran to help Laura out the pool, while Cora ran inside to grab an armful of towels.

“Fuck, Stiles, the glass, I stood on the glass!”

She didn’t have to be told that, and Stiles focused on her breathing while she tried to look at Laura’s foot, the rivulets of blood making it so difficult to see the extent of the damage.

“Cora!” Stiles yelled over her shoulder, and when Cora ran back into her sight, she grabbed the towels from her, leaving her with one to dry herself with. “Call an ambulance, she needs to see a doctor and none of us can drive.” Cora disappeared, and Stiles could hear her talking frantically on the phone. Stiles looked back to Laura, who had laid back on the floor, covering her eyes as she cried. She grabbed the injured foot, and wrapped a towel around it, trying to staunch the bleeding. “Hey, listen here you, you are gonna be fine, or you are gonna have to give me all your heels, and what the hell are you gonna wear?”

Laura started laughing, looking at Stiles through teary eyes. “I’ll just have to wear slippers, like super fancy fluffy ones.”

Stiles giggled with her, “yeah, fluffy slippers and little black dress. You are gonna make _such_ a good first impression on your date!” Laura opened her mouth to speak when Cora landed next to Stiles, grabbing Laura’s head as she cried.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t think, I didn’t know I dropped it!”

Stiles jumped in, trying to get them both to calm down. “Cora, who are you gonna set Laura up with?”

Cora looked at Stiles, before she smiled a little, looking back down to Laura, “oh yeah, I won!”

“Screw you, lady!” Laura laughed, a little breathlessly, “there is no way you were in before me!”

“Oh I was, you are just so old that your eye sight is failing and you didn’t see!” She ducked out of the way of the smack Laura directed at her, and Stiles jumped up, having heard someone at the door. She ran inside, opening up to a couple of paramedics.

“Hi, thank you! She is out this way.” She led the way back to the pool, where Cora had Laura sitting up. The medics went straight over, having a quick look at the foot.

“She is going to have to go to hospital, she needs stitches. Only one of you can come with us.” Stiles nodded at the medic who spoke, while the other got her ready for the trip. Cora took it upon herself to run inside and grab a dress for Laura to put on, which she happily accepted. The medics grabbed the stretcher, placing Laura on it and securing her, before they took her out to the ambulance.

“Stiles, I’m going with her, I’ll call my parents on the way. I’ll let you know what’s happening, ok?” She pulled Stiles into a tight hug, a sob leaving Cora’s throat. “I’m so sorry.”

Stiles ran her hands up her back, holding her tight, “hey, don’t worry! She is going to be fine,” she pulled her away, “now go get in with them, they probably won’t take well to waiting for you.”

Cora nodded, running to meet the medics outside, leaving Stiles alone. She lasted a whole 30 seconds before the panic set in, and she ran for her phone, not even paying attention to the fact that it was after 11pm.

“Stiles, baby, what’s wrong?”

Hearing his voice, sleep rough and everything she missed right now, caused her to break into tears, the alcohol certainly not helping. “Der!” She sobbed, covering her mouth as she tried to quieten herself.

“Baby, you have to tell me what’s wrong.” The worry in his voice snapped her out of her panic, and she took a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry, sorry. Uh, Laura just went to the hospital with Cora, she stepped on a glass and sliced up her foot, and I, I’ve had some wine, and it just came crashing down, but she is fine, she just has to go for stitches.”

“How did Cora stand on glass?”

“No, Laura. Cora dropped her glass, and Laura stood on it.” Stiles looked towards the pool, relieved to see that there was no overt red tinge to the water. She could see the glistening pieces of glass on the bottom, and had no idea how they would remove all that glass.

“But she is fine? Do I need to come home?”

“No, I’m sure she’s gonna be fine, I had a look at her foot, and it didn’t look like it was really bad, it was just a really big cut.”

“Do my parents know?”

“Cora is calling from the ambulance, I’m sure they will meet at the hospital.”

“Then where are you?”

“The beach house.” She tried to not let the sadness seep into her voice, and she knew it didn’t work.

“Precious, take my car, it’s parked in the garage, I don’t want you to stress yourself out at home alone.”

“I can’t, I’ve had a couple glasses of wine.” She began crying, softly, but Derek heard.

“Baby, listen to me, it's ok, you don’t have to worry!”

“Yeah, but if I haven’t had anything to drink I’d be able to get there, and now I can’t and-“

“Stiles?”

She turned quickly towards the voice, and ran to Ryan when he came outside, who managed to catch her in time, before she knocked him over.

“Stiles?” The sound of Derek’s voice brought stiles back, and she sniffed, still holding Ryan as she lifted the phone to her ear. “Ryan just arrived-“

Ryan grabbed the phone, smiling at Stiles, “Hey Derek, I’m here now. Mom, she called me a little while ago, and I wasn’t too far away. Yeah, I’m gonna take her now. Yeah, I will. Cheers.” He passed the phone back to Stiles to quickly checked if Derek was still on the line.

“Der?”

“I’m here baby, Ryan is going to take you to the hospital, please call me if you need me, ok?”

She nodded, before she realised he couldn’t see her. “Yes, I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The call ended and Stiles took a shaky breathe. “Stiles, you want to get something else on, or are you ok to go like that?”

She looked down at her dress, and decided to just grab pumps, and grabbed Cora’s too, as well as Laura’s slippers, before Ryan led her out and to his car.


	29. Chapter 29

Ryan had them at the hospital in no time, and Stiles was so thankful he had been around. Having gotten so close to Cora and Laura, they felt like sisters to her, never mind how close she had gotten to Ryan and their parents.

They got into the hospital, making their way to the emergency ward when Stiles heard Cora call her name, and then Ryan’s.

“Hey, she is having stitches done now, it apparently looks ok, but she won’t be walking on it for a couple of weeks.”

Stiles nodded, and passed Cora her shoes, smiling when Cora laughed.

“Oh my god you are a star Stiles!” She quickly put her shoes on, pulling Stiles in for a hug, and then her brother.

“Ryan, when did you get here baby?”

They all looked over to Talia who was coming out of the emergency ward, Don right behind her.

“Hi mom, dad. I just brought Stiles, she was freaking out at home alone.”

“Oh sweetheart, I’m so sorry!” Talia pulled Stiles in for a bone crushing hug, but Stiles loved it. It was a mom hug, a hug where no worldly problems could permeate. She missed these. “Thank you for your help with Laura, Cora told us how calm you were.”

Stiles laughed, “yeah I was calm until they left, then I called Derek crying!” Everyone else laughed too.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t care why you called him sweetheart, I know how much he cares for you.”

Stiles nodded at Talia, afraid to speak in case she showed how choked up that made her.

“Mrs Hale?” A young doctor came out, holding a patient file.

“Yes?”

“Laura is all finished now, she got 16 stitches, which need to be removed in 14 days. I have prescribed her pain killers and antibiotics, which she must start tomorrow, and she must finish the course. She must try not put weight on her foot, at least until she has the stitches out, and the attending doctor will discuss her walking then. If you have any questions or worries, please contact the emergency room.”

Talia smiled at the woman, “Thank you Dr Price, I appreciate your help.”

“No problem, keep well!”

They all crowded around as Laura was wheeled out in a wheel chair, a small smile on her face.

“Ok, I want you all at my house in no more than one hour, ok?” Talia looked around, Cora and Ryan nodding, while Laura groaned.

“Mom, I’m fine, we were going to stay at the beach ho-“

“Oh, no. I want you home. I want to look after you, and I want all my children around me. Please give your poor mother that!”

Don laughed, and grabbed Cora around the shoulders, “no use arguing kiddo’s, mom rules!”

Stiles swallowed, suddenly anxious. She wasn’t sure if she was invited, or how she would sleep alone at the beach house, and how she would even get there, until Cora elbowed her in the ribs gently, before she looked over to her mother, who was smiling at Stiles. “Sweetheart, you also don’t have any excuse for not coming home, so you get your butt to my house in no more than one hour, do you understand?”

Stiles smiled, feeling the blush heat her cheeks as she nodded.

Talia and Don headed home to get the place sorted for an impromptu family sleep over, and Ryan dropped Cora and Stiles off at home before he went to wherever he had been staying to fetch his own things.

“I think I’ll be able to drive us, Cor.”

“You sure?”

Stiles nodded. The stress of the entire evening had sobered her up very quickly, not that she had had so much to drink that she would still be effected. It was 3am already, it had been hours since her last drink. While Cora grabbed stuff for Laura, who had gone home with her parents, Stiles called Derek, who answered quickly.

“Hey baby!”

She smiled, “hey yourself. Why are you out of breath?”

“I went for a run, couldn’t sleep. Is everything ok?”

“Oh gees I’m sorry, it’s all –“

“Don’t even say it’s your fault, because I want you to call me, no matter what it’s about! How is Laura?”

She smiled at his playful tone. “She is fine, 16 stitches, and no walking for the foreseeable future!”

Derek laughed, and Stiles could imagine how his head was thrown back. “Serves that old fossil right!”

Stiles chuckled, “Derek! You can’t say that!”

“Oh I can, please tell her for me!”

“OH hell no dude, I am not getting in the way of that! You tell her!” She sniggered, before she sighed. “I miss you, it hasn’t been a full day yet,  still, and I miss you.”

“I miss you too beautiful, but I have a feeling you will be more than occupied with Laura staying in the beach house too.”

“Oh no, we were all told that we had to stay with your parents. No excuses. I’m surprised your mom hasn’t gotten you home too!”

He laughed again, “oh wow I am sorry she is demanding you all stay there, but I am so happy she told you as well.”

“Well Derek,” Stiles tried to sound very serious and honest, “I _am_ the favourite now.”

She smiled at his laugh, “well you are certainly my favourite, why not everyone else’s too! Ok, I have to go now though, but I’ll call you later when I’m done ok? I love you!”

“I love you too, good luck!”

“Thanks precious.”

She smiled down at her phone, only looking up when Cora cleared her throat, a snarky smile on her face, “come on you love sick puppy, mom will go berserk if we aren’t there soon. I already got a text from her telling us to hurry up!”

They packed the car, and Stiles drove them to Talia’s house, with Cora yelling out directions almost whole seconds too late, causing Stiles to reach over and smack her numerous times for not paying attention.

When they arrived, Talia ushered them both upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms, which had a king and a double bed inside, Laura already settled on the double. “I hope you and Cora don’t mind sharing a bed, Laura is worried someone will kick her foot.”

“Only if she is super irritating.”

Laura laughed at Cora and threw a pillow at her, which hit Talia, causing them all to laugh.

“Oh you girls, don’t hurt each other! I am going to bed, and I’ll see you tomorrow-“

“Later,” chimed Laura and Cora.

“For breakfast! Good night!” She blew kisses to all 3 girls, and closed the door behind her.

Stiles and Cora took turns showering, before they climbed into bed and fell asleep.


	30. Chapter 30

When Stiles woke up, it felt like mere minutes had passed, the sheer exhaustion hitting her like a ton of bricks. She rolled over, and saw Cora was still asleep, and she smiled. Her parents had never been able to afford having a second child, and when they could afford it, mom fell ill, and another kid was SO out of the question. She never felt like she was missing anything growing up, but now, as an adult, as a daughter who watched her mom die, she had really pined for a sibling, someone who understood. She felt like Cora and Laura had picked up the roles of her sisters so quickly, never questioning, never making her feel out of place. She knew that they hadn’t lost anyone, none of them had, but Stiles felt so lucky that she finally had a bigger family that she actually felt she belonged in.

She couldn’t explain how happy it had made her when Talia told her she also had to come stay over; knowing she was invited to a family sleep over was so precious to her. She loved that they wanted her around. She also decided, that since they had all seemingly accepted her, it probably meant that Derek was not keeping quiet about his feelings towards her, at least not in his family. She quietly climbed out of bed, and shuffled out the bedroom, following the scent of coffee that lingered around the doorway. She grabbed a cup from the machine, and saw that Talia was sitting outside, alone. She stuck her head out the door and quietly greeted her.

“Morning Talia.”

Talia looked up and smiled, putting her book down. “Good morning Stiles, how did you sleep? Please, sit!”

As she sat next to Talia, she nodded, “I slept well, thank you! That bed is awesome.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Talia grabbed Stiles’ hand, holding it between her hands. “Thank you for all your help last night my dear, from what Cora told us, you managed to get everything sorted. I know it might seem small, I know Laura only needed stitches, but it means to much to me that you genuinely care about my family, and to me, that makes you family.”

Stiles could say that she smiled and nodded, and took her first sip of what was an amazing cup of coffee. She could say that she brushed it off, saying she would have helped anyone in that situation. She could have said so many things, but she didn’t.

She cried.

Talia wasted no time in grabbing her cup, setting it down and pulling Stiles in for a cuddle, a proper mom cuddle where she lay with her head in the crook of Talia’s neck, her arms wrapped around Stiles’ back, her lips in Stiles’ hair. It made Stiles cry harder, and Talia continued to hold her, and comfort her, whispering words of love and care until Stiles hiccupped to a stop.

“Are you alright my sweetheart?”

Stiles nodded, wiping her eyes as she sat up and looked at Talia, slightly ashamed now. “Yes, I’m sorry, I just. My mom, you know, and then. I don’t know.”

Talia smiled gently, “I am always here for you. I am so sorry about your mom, and I know no one will ever be exactly who your mother was to you, but I can promise I will always be here for you.”

Stiles nodded, swallowing before she added a quiet “I think I know that.”

With that, Talia practically beamed. “Well, as long as you know just how much I love you, that you are one of my girls now, that’s all that matters! So now come, you need a nice fresh cup of coffee, and I need to rouse the wolfs!” She winked, bringing up the joke Derek had made the first time Stiles had met Talia at the beach house. Stiles took a deep settling breathe, before she stood and followed Talia into the house. She started the coffee machine again, as Talia made a quick call in the other room.

“Hello!” Stiles jumped when Cora yelled, and Cora laughed as she danced away.

“God, Cora! You scared the crap out of me!” Stiles theatrically grabbed her shirt above her heart, her other hand going up to her forehead.

“Oh shut up, you liked it!”

Stiles laughed at that, “who the hell in their right mind likes being scared?”

Cora stared at her, “uh, amusement parks? Roller-coasters? Any of this ringing a bell?”

“Ok, fine. Yes, in that instance I like that initial rush of fear, adrenaline, it’s great!”

“What are we talking about?”

They both turned to Laura who was wheeling herself into the kitchen.

“Coffee?” Stiles offered, looking at both sisters, who nodded and smiled.

“We were talking about how we are gonna take you to an amusement park today to make you feel better.”

How Cora could tease her sister while sounding so nonchalant was beyond Stiles, maybe it was a sibling thing? Honed after many a year of tormenting?

“You can literally take a long walk off a short pier!” Laura sing-songed, thanking Stiles when she passed her cup of coffee.

“Ah. Well, we have to do something!”

Stiles leaned against the counter with her coffee as she watched Laura and Cora playfully argue, joined by Ryan when he came in complaining about the noise.

She was happy to laugh and smile, knowing that she belonged here, but it didn’t fill the Derek shaped hole in the house, or her heart.

Over the cacophony of the 3 yelling siblings, Stiles almost missed the knock at the door. She quickly escaped the kitchen, shaking her head at the insults they were flinging to one another, with raucous laughter bellowing out every couple of seconds from one, if not all, of them. Stiles checked the lounge and saw that Talia wasn’t there, so answered the door herself. She had no sooner opened the door when a man pushed past her, causing her to almost yell. Almost. The smell of fresh chocolate pancakes had her following him to the kitchen, where he set down the boxes and nodded at her, before he left the house and closed the door behind him. The effect of the food was almost instantaneous. Stiles watched the waiter leave, who she now recognised as Marc from the Hale’s’ restaurant. She was also vaguely aware of a sudden stillness, an out of place silence. When she turned around, she bent over in laughter, the sight of Ryan, Laura and Cora all stuffing their faces, all with expressions of innocence on their faces.

“You know, as a mother, it worries me when I see this.” Stiles turned to see Talia walk in, looking at her supposed grown children. “I am fairly sure I taught you where the plates are, and how to use knives and forks.”

Cora laughed, clapping her hand over her mouth to stop her mouthful from falling out, and Don groaned from behind Stiles.

“Disgusting, the lot of you!” He said it so seriously, that when he grabbed a pancake with his hands, and shoved it into his mouth with absolutely no grace, Stiles laughed again, joined by Talia.

“Stiles, sweetheart, please tell me I can at least offer you a plate?”

She nodded, smiling. “Please, I like to at least pretend I’m an adult,” which earned her 4 various huffs and noises of disappointment and indignation.


	31. Chapter 31

The first week passed slowly, the second was passing even slower; the only other person to feel the same sluggish movement of time was Laura, who was becoming desperate for the stitches to be removed.

“Stiles, I want a cheese grater, and I want to scrape my foot against it!”

Stiles made a face, knowing Laura saw it when she laughed. She continued to focus on the road; one of the ways she had been attempting to keep herself busy was by offering to be Laura’s chauffer, which so far had been uneventful. “That’s disgusting, Ellie, don’t tell me that!”

“But it is so fucking itchy!”

Stiles looked over to Laura, who was miming scratching the bottom of her foot, a grimace on her face. “Rub it.”

Laura looked at her incredulously and burst into laughter, “that’s what he said!”

Stiles laughed too, shaking her head as she pulled away from the now green light.

“No, but seriously, just gently rub the bottom of your foot. You told me your skin is still sensitive, so rubbing it should be enough to get rid of the itch.” She saw Laura, from the corner of her eye, look down to the foot in her lap, and shrugged slightly, beginning to gingerly rub the sole of her foot, and moaned in the most obscene manner.

“Oh god Sti, why the hell didn’t you tell me this earlier? I’ve been going mad!”

She chuckled, pulling into Laura’s parking spot at the hotel before she looked over to her, trying to keep a very serious expression and tone, “because I wanted you to suffer.”

She got out quickly, silently laughing at Laura’s ensuing cackles. She met Laura around the other side of her car, and grabbed her crutches from the back seat, passing them to her.

“Well, screw you too! Anyway, don’t forget lunch with Cor and I today, what are you gonna do today?”

They walked off slowly to the elevator, Stiles attempting to make a decision. So far, she had spent a couple days hanging around Cora at the salon, she had spent a full day shopping with Talia, she had lounged in her mostly abandoned hotel room. She had spent a few days at the beach house alone, she tried spending a day with Laura but good god was it boring; Laura had so many duties to fulfil at the hotel, that Stiles barely saw her. It hadn’t helped that the weather had been awful, cold and rainy and just plain crap. Every night she stayed with Laura and Cora at the beach house, sometimes joined by Ryan, but most often it was just them.

“Maybe I should go to the aquarium. Look at, uh, fish.”

Laura gave her sidelong look, before she smiled. “Wow, fish. At an aquarium. Who’d a guessed it.”

Stiles had the sudden urge to push Laura off her crutches, but pointed at her, giving her an exaggerated evil eye. “I will see you later, so shut up and go to work!” They laughed, Laura giving Stiles an awkward one armed hug, her crutch banging into Stiles’ side.

“Bye lovie, have fun! Call me if you need anything!”

Stiles waved as she left, getting back into Laura’s car and heading off for the aquarium. She was half way there when her phone rang, and she smiled, pressing the answer button on the steering wheel.

“Hey handsome!”

“Hello gorgeous, how are you?”

She smiled wider, her insides slowly dissolving. “I’m better now that you called me. How is everything going?”

“Well, that’s why I needed to talk to you. You know I was meant to leave in 4 days?”

She nodded, her smile morphing into a slight frown. “Yeah?”

“Well, I can’t come back then.”

She stayed silent for a beat, before she added, “Der, this is where you tell me when you will be coming  home!”

He sighed, and Stiles felt a prickle in her eyes, tears threatening. “I just, I’m sorry. There is nothing I can do. You have to come fetch me from the airport now. I’m sorry.”

She processed that, slowly, and was interrupted by him, “babe?”

She started laughing, pulling into a parking spot to get off the road. “Oh my god you are such a dick! Are you here? Have you landed?”

“Yeah, I landed a couple minutes ago. Ryan was meant to fetch me, so I could surprise you, but he got a call from his lecturer, so he had to sort something out. I can get a cab if you-“

“NO!” Stiles laughed at her own eagerness, pulling out into the road as she headed to the airport. “I’ll be there in about 30 minutes, oh my god I’m so excited, you ass!”

She smiled at his laugh, “wow, I come home early and that’s what I get? Nice, good to know I’m loved.”

“I do love you, and I can’t wait to see you!”

They ended the call shortly after, so Stiles could focus on getting there, her excitement already making her jittery. She pulled into a bay quickly, and practically ran to the terminal, searching every face for him. She knew he had been out for a while, so he should have been sitting where he told her he was, right by the pop up curio store, but she couldn’t see him. She stood in place, turning slowly to look around her, paying attention to every tall, dark haired man she could see, until she stopped to look at a man who had a giant bouquet of flowers covering his face. She smiled a little, walking slowly to him, and began sprinting to him when he dropped the flowers a little, and she saw his eyes.

She threw herself into his open arms, wrapping herself around him as much as she could, pressing kisses to his chest and neck and face, smiling at the way he moved against her when he laughed.

“Hi there.”

She pulled back, still in his embrace, and looked up at him. “Well hi.”

“These are for you.” He looked over her shoulder at the flowers pressed against her upper back, and she stretched up to kiss him, whispering thank you.

The way he pulled back slightly, looking from her eyes to her lips, his arms still holding her hips flush against him, and the long 11 days since they had last seen each other had them both rushing for the exit in seconds, never letting each other’s hand go.

They got only a couple steps away when the first shout came.

Stiles looked around as they slowed, a second and third voice calling Derek’s name, and she saw the excited faces of a group of young girls, all advancing on Derek and Stiles. She grabbed his hand tighter, at the same time he did, and he pulled her close.

“Babe, just walk.”

She nodded, walking with him as they began to exit the airport, with Derek greeting the girls civilly as they caught up, all crowding them and bumping into Stiles. It got about a million times worse as they exited the airport, right into the view of a group of waiting photojournalists.

“Shit.” Stiles looked up to Derek as he spoke, and he immediately pulled his hood up, trying to cover his face. “Use the flowers to cover your face.” She did as she was told, still keeping a tight hold of his hand, until they came to a sudden stop, the journalists now completely blocking their way.

A chorus of ‘Mr Hale’ and ‘Derek’ surrounded them, along with questions that Stiles didn’t even attempt to separate from one another, and she could feel panic setting in. All while she and Derek had been in LA together, around home, they had never been accosted like this, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was slightly terrified.

“Let us through please.” Derek pulled her along, forcing his way into the crowd, all while flashes of light were going off like fire crackers around them. Stiles directed him to where Laura’s car was, and he hurriedly shoved his bag into the car, while Stiles got into the passenger seat.

He started the car up quickly, and slowly pulled out of the parking bay, quietly cussing out the people who were determined to stop him as they stood close to the car. He eventually had enough of a gap that he took off, exiting the airport quickly and hopefully leaving them all behind.


	32. Chapter 32

As they drove, his hand sought hers, and she gripped onto it.

“You ok?”

He spoke quietly, and she nodded. “Yeah, just overwhelmed.”

He nodded as he watched the road, “I’m sorry. I doubt they knew I was landing today, they were probably just hoping for anyone to show up.”

She took a deep breath, and looked over to him. “I am so glad you are back.”

He chuckled, “even after all that?”

She nodded excitedly, her fears dissipating the longer she looked at him. “Yep, I haven’t had coffee in 11 days.”

He looked over at her, shock all over his face until she started laughing and he realised she was joking.

“Good god, I was going to ask how you are still alive, you are more coffee than skin and bones!”

She nodded, a sly smile playing on her lips, “it’s still not the same though, you know? I’m supposed to drink it _cold_ , but I had to drink it hot, every single day.”

He didn’t miss her emphasis, and looked over to her when the light stopped them. He moved close, grasping her chin in his hand as his lips ghosted over hers.

“I’m gonna make you so much coffee when I get you home.”

She giggled as she moved forward the tiny distance to seal their lips together for a searing kiss, which was broken when a hoot behind them had them pulling away, and Derek started driving again, apologising to the driver behind him.

She grabbed her phone, calling Laura, forgetting her phone was connected to the car until Laura’s voice filled the car.

“Hey Sti, we are just about at the restaurant, you almost here?”

Stiles giggled, opening her mouth to answer when Derek beat her to it.

“She won’t be needing lunch, Laura.”

There was a beat of silence before Laura responded, “one, hi Derek, great to know you call your family when you get back home, and two, you are disgusting!”

“I actually don’t give a crap, but I know you are definitely going to need to find another way home, because Stiles is going to be busy for a couple days.”

Stiles sniggered, blush settling deep in her cheeks as Derek laughed.

“Oh my god don’t tell me that! I don’t want to know that!”

Cora was in the background, her cackling laugh letting them know that she was at least enjoying this.

“I’ll take her home,” they heard her call, “don’t do anything mom wouldn’t wanna see!”

With that the call ended and Derek groaned, Stiles covering her face with her hands.

“Your sisters are the worst, do you know that?”

He laughed, nodding, as he pulled into his garage. He would have to arrange to swap cars with Laura, but he had other things on his mind right now. “Why are you driving Laura’s car, by the way?”

Stiles shrugged, “she says the foot space is better in her car.”

“Oh right.” Stiles shot her hand out, grabbing his sleeve to stop him from getting out the car and smiled at him, her lip between her teeth.

“What’s that look for?” He asked, his eyes drawn to where she was still worrying her lip between her teeth.

“I just think we should see how much space this car has, you know. In case we had to buy a bigger car.” She slowly moved over the centre console, straddling his lap.

“Really?” He mumbled, his lips already attached to her neck, “why would we need a bigger car?”

She moaned as he licked up her neck to her ear, his arm around her waist. “Dunno, don’t care!” She reached down between the seat and the door, fumbling for the seat adjuster, pushing it back so the seat started moving backwards, giving her more space to gyrate on his lap, earning her a low growl from Derek, his teeth nibbling her earlobe.

She started laughing, which had Derek looking up to her quickly, “what?”

“The seat is moving so slowly!”

Derek looked down, and saw what she meant, and laughed too. “Suppose two people on the one seat isn’t the best.”

Stiles laughed, humming sweetly as she continued to push the button until the seat stopped. Derek used her distraction to grip her hips and push up to her, causing her to groan, her fingers gripping his shoulders. He ground her against him, listening to her moans until he stopped suddenly, a wicked gleam to his eye.

“Wha-why are you stopping?” She tried to move against him but he held her still, a little further down his thighs. “Derek!” She giggled, wriggling to get him to let go.

“No, I need to get to get you inside, so I can show you how much I missed you, and it will be so much better if it’s not in my sisters car!”

She laughed, and kissed him quickly, before moving over to her seat.

“Fair enough, but I think we need a bigger car than this one.”

He looked at her, his lustful expression matching hers, and he watched her climb out the car, where she grabbed the bottom of her above-knee length dress, and in one fluid movement she threw it onto his lap and closed her door, leaving him scrambling to get out.

He raced around the car, grabbing Stiles’ face as he crushed his lips against hers, she fingers grabbing his belt loops as she pulled him close. They barely had enough time to enjoy the sudden pressure of their bodies, pressed together, when a cough behind them instantly had their attention.

Stiles looked over Derek’s shoulder as she turned, and he shielded her as his posture when rigid.

“For fucks sake, what now Kate? Why the fuck are you here?”

Stiles put her hand on Derek’s back, urging him forward slightly so she could open her door and grab her discard dress, sliding it on as quickly as she could.

“Hi sweetie, hi Stiles.”

Stiles glared at Kate over his shoulder, as Derek crossed his arms. “What. Do. You. Want.”

She cocked her head slightly, and slowly advanced on him, and he shot out his hands, one to grab Stiles’ hand, and the other to stop her from coming closer. “Kate, don’t. I am not interested. Please leave.”

She shook her head coyly, glancing at him through her eyelashes. “But, sweetie, I love you.”

Stiles’ skin was crawling, and she had no idea how to help this situation, how to get Kate out of here. She knew there was definitely more to their history than Derek had told her so far, and she wasn’t willing to see just how much of a mess Kate could make. She held tight onto Derek’s hand, and walked passed Kate, Derek understanding quickly as he started digging in his pocket for his keys. He opened the door and gently pushed Stiles inside first, before he closed and locked the door behind him.

“Bye sweetie!” Her sickly sweet voice oozed through the door as Stiles grabbed his hand and pulled him to the lounge.

“Sit, I’ll get some wine.” She smiled at him, and he nodded, a small smile on his lips, but his eyes were still tense.

Stiles grabbed two glasses and a bottle of white wine from the fridge, before she climbed into the couch with Derek, under his outstretched arm.


	33. Chapter 33

They sat on the couch in silence for a while, Stiles tracing patterns onto Derek’s hand while he kissed her head where his cheek rested.

“I can’t even begin to-“

“If you say apologise, I will bite you.”

Derek laughed, pulling away slightly to look at Stiles. “Really? You’ll bite me?”

She shrugged, trying to not smile, and failing miserably. “Why not. It’s not your fault, she is quite literally bat shit crazy.”

He sighed, and pulled her close again. “Yeah, she is.” He went silent, but stiles felt the way his body tensed up, and she pulled away this time to look at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“You haven’t told anyone I live here, right?”

She shook her head slowly, frowning. “Why would I do that, Derek?”

“No, don’t get mad, I only wondered if you had told your dad or something. The other explanation, which I honestly believe is what happened, is that she followed us. I bought this place after I ended things with her. She shouldn’t even know about this place.”

Stiles looked into her wine glass, suddenly wishing with all her heart that they could go back to when she saw him at the airport. When it was just them. When the excitement of seeing each other was all that was on their minds.

Just then, as if on cue, thunder began rolling in the distance, and Derek squeezed her shoulder. “Looks like I’ll finally get to show you the sun room in a thunder storm!”

She looked up, and smiled at the happiness on his face, and nodded. “It’s been raining almost every day, I hoped it would still be raining when you got home.”

He kissed her forehead and got up, switching on the light as he left the room, taking the stairs 3 at a time. Stiles didn’t have to wait long to see what he went for, when he came back down with his bedding, piled high in his arms.

“Oh, Der! I could have helped you!”

She jumped up, offering her arms out to him, but he shook his head, “you fill up our glasses, and I’ll go make the bed.”

He disappeared into the sun room, and Stiles grabbed the two glasses and the bottle, following him quickly. The sky was pitch black above the glass, the occasional lightening illuminating the sky enough that she could see dark, heavy clouds. She set the glasses down when Derek beckoned her over, patting the makeshift bed on the floor and she happily obliged.

“I hope you don’t mind the lack of a bed, I feel like it adds to the experience.” He spoke quietly, and she snuggled close to him, placing her head on his chest so she could still see the sky, watching a couple of drops splatter on the glass dome above them.

“Der, I couldn’t care less about the bed, as long as you are here.”

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face slowly, until he could kiss her. She sighed, moving up towards him when he rolled them over, holding himself up with one hand as he caressed down her face, across her breast, resting it on her side.

She wrapped her legs around his hips, using her feet to draw him in, shuddering when his hard length brushed against her aching core.

“Fuck babe, I missed you. I missed you so much.” She moaned into his hair as he moved to kiss her neck, her chest. She couldn’t control her body, each individual part seemingly moving of their own accord. Her fingers wrapping up in his hair, stroking across his stubbled cheek. Her legs doing everything in their power to keep him moving against her. She felt light headed and like her skin was erupting, tiny explosions everywhere he touched.

“Me too gorgeous. I couldn’t get you out of my head, not that you made it any easier with those dirty texts!” He thrust against her, as if making his point, and Stiles made a noise somewhere between a giggle and a moan, breathless and needy.

“Gosh I am sorry, here I was thinking you would enjoy them,” she teased him, knowing full well how much he had enjoyed them.

“I did enjoy them, but not as much as I’m enjoying this.” He grabbed her dress, unhurriedly peeling it up her body  before he threw it to the side, a loud crash of thunder setting her hair on end as the sky lit up, the rain finally spilling from the clouds in sheets, creating a deafening roar in the sun room, which fell on deaf ears.

Derek wasted no time in removing her bra and panties, before he ravished her body, peppering kisses and nips everywhere he could. He stopped when she was nothing but a shaky wreck, her heart hammering against her ribs.

“Derek, please!”

He groaned as she pulled him down, wrapping her legs around him again as her hands immediately went to his shirt, dragging it off with none of the showmanship Derek had undressed her with. Her shaky fingers grabbed for his pants, wasting no time in popping the button and pushing them down with his help.

He rested his forehead against hers as he looked down their bodies, lining himself up before he entered her, her moan of sheer ecstasy setting his insides on fire. He couldn’t hold back now, even if he tried, and the way her nails dug into his skin as he thrust in and out of her, she wouldn’t have let him.

“Oh fuck, Derek, I love you, please don’t stop!”

He chuckled, watching her face.

“I love you so much, I don’t think I could ever stop.”

She opened her eyes and looked at him, her mouth slightly open, her breath coming out in quiet pants as he slowed his movements.

“Do you mean that?” She spoke quietly, her fingers moving from his ribs to his face.

He nodded, never breaking eye contact. “I do mean it, I’ve been thinking it the entire time I was away. Knowing my family had pretty much roped you into everything they did, knowing that you could come and go from this house as you wanted, getting each text from you saying I should start running home because you missed me…” He trailed off, lifting a hand to lay it on her cheek, “I never want that to not be an option. I never want to know what it’s like, not having you in my life again. I couldn’t go back to how life was before you. You pretty much ruined me.” He ended with a smile, and Stiles giggled, using a hand to wipe a tear that had pooled in the corner of her eye.

“It makes me so incredibly happy to hear that, Der. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how much! Knowing that I’ll always be able to use that awesome coffee machine at the beach house?”

She burst out into laughter as he gripped her sides, tickling her before she could finish.

“Oh god no, SORRY!” She laughed as he stopped tickling, and ran his fingers up and down her side. She leaned up to kiss him, before she smiled sweetly.

“You can’t get rid of me now, Derek. I’m never going anywhere without you.”

He stared at her for a moment, before he said what had been on his mind for over a week now.

“Move in with me.”


	34. Chapter 34

Derek was woken up by the shrill tone of his phone, and he reached out, patting the floor around him until he found it.

“Hello?” He hadn’t even checked who was calling.

“Derek, I need to talk to you. I hope, so help you if it’s true, but I hope that Kate is lying about being pregnant with your child.”

That had Derek awake in seconds, up and out of the bed going towards his study to look on the computer. “Mom, what?”

“Kate, it’s all over the news, I’ve had calls all morning about it. Kate is claiming you are the father of her unborn child, and that you are trying to deny it by being with Stiles, because all those pictures are floating around too!”

Derek groaned, knowing his mother’s anger wasn’t directed at him. At least not 100%.

“Mom, Kate and I haven’t been an item for years!”

“Yes, I am well aware of what the public is aware of Derek, but I have no idea what you might do in your spare time!”

“Well it’s sure as hell not her!”

“Thank you, I knew you had more sense, but she has made it look very believable.”

He pulled up the first article that mentioned pregnant Kate Argent, and felt the colour drain from his face. The pictures of Stiles and him at the airport, hiding their faces, making the quick getaway. Kate used it all to insinuate he had been trying to hide his relationship with Stiles.

“Mom, what do I do?”

“You get ready, and you both come here. We will call the lawyer when you get here. Baby, please, don’t say anything to anyone until we come up with a plan. I love you.”

“Love you too mom.”

After the call ended, he stayed sitting at his desk, staring at the pictures of him and Stiles. Even hiding half her face, she was beautiful. He felt disgusted that these, these would forever be their first pictures together.

“Der?”

He turned the screen off before he went to find her, and pulled her in for a hug before she could say anything. “Good morning Precious.”

She looked up him, her arms wrapped around his waist. “I’ve seen them Der, it’s ok.”

His face fell, and he tried to pull away but Stiles wouldn’t let go. “Hey, no, not happening. I know what that woman is like. I know it’s not true.”

He looked back towards her, desperately hoping she looked as honest as she sounded, and feeling a flood of relief when he saw her eyes. He nodded, shutting his eyes as he felt a tell-tale burning sensation of oncoming tears.

“She is only doing this because of you, and I hate that you are involved in this!”

She touched his cheek, and waited for him to open his eyes before she spoke, “I’m not sorry. Yes, it sucks. But I don’t care. I love you, and that’s all that matters for now. We figure the rest out later.”

“My mom needs us to get to her house, she is calling a lawyer. Don’t talk to anyone, ok?”

She frowned, unsure what he meant, and he continued, “I mean outside. There is bound to be at least one journalist waiting somewhere to see us, and they will ask all kinds of questions, and they will specifically ask you because you aren’t used to the intensity. Just keep your head down and ignore them.”

She swallowed, the idea of more intense paparazzi had her insides squirming.

“Let’s get dressed.” He kissed her forehead as he grasped her hand, leading her to their bedroom.


	35. Chapter 35

When they arrived at Derek’s parents’ house, they were met by a group of photojournalists, already snapping pictures of them in the car together. Derek drove them through the gates where his parents had arranged for security to keep the journalists from entering, leaving Stiles and Derek free to escape into the house.

She could hear the cacophonous shouting from the group locked behind the gate, but couldn’t discern any specific questions, and wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.

His mom had the door open before they got up the steps and ushered them inside, directing them to the dining room where there were waiting cups of coffee for them, and a man in a dark grey suit.

He stood, offering his hand out to Derek. “Hello Derek, good to see you again. Sad it’s under these conditions.”

Derek nodded as he shook his hand, “likewise Jonathon. You look well.”

Jonathon laughed, “if only you could convince my wife that! She has us eating a low carb diet for ‘health’ reasons.”

Derek laughed, and pulled Stiles under his arm, “this is Stiles, my girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you, Stiles. I’m Jonathon, I’ve been the family lawyer since the dawn of time.”

Talia reached out and smacked his upper arm, earning her a laugh from everyone. “I am not that old, don’t make me call your mother!”

Jonathon laughed, gesturing for everyone to sit down. “Right, Derek I need to know the truth before we come up with any plans. What is the real story here?”

Derek sighed, rubbing a hand down his face as he intertwined his and Stiles’ fingers. “Kate and I were engaged, as you know, about 3 years ago. It ended there,  a couple of months after the engagement. You remember that story.”

He nodded, jotting something down on his papers. “I do remember having to negotiate the reimbursement of a car to you.”

Derek nodded, swallowing as he continued. “The only time I have ever seen her after that was at the beach house, where her family owns the house next door, but I have never, I would never…” He trailed off as looked at Stiles. “There hasn’t been anyone since her, until Stiles.” He looked back at Jonathon, “if she had gotten pregnant, the child would be just over 2, at the least.”

“Fine, fine. Has Ms Argent contacted you recently?”

“Yes, she has come to the beach house a few times, uninvited, and she rocked up at my private home yesterday afternoon.”

“What?”

He looked over to his mother, who’s eyes were wide. “Just after Stiles had fetched me. We arrived home, and Kate showed up.”

“Anything else I should be aware of?”

Derek shook his head, Jonathon writing more things down.

Stiles fidgeted for a second, before she blurted out, “she did come over to me one day.” Everyone turned to look at her, “at the beach house. I told Derek and Laura. I was out on the sand, and she came over, and she started crying, saying she and Derek had only just separated, as in on the day he and I met.”

Jonathon nodded. “What else did she say?”

Stiles shook her head slightly, “just that she didn’t know why he had apparently suddenly ended things with her, and that she wished she knew the reason. I spoke to Derek, who explained everything, but obviously she isn’t above lying if she thinks it will get her something.”

“But you have no proof of this conversation?”

She shook her again, “no.”

“That’s no problem, I thought it was a long shot, but always worth asking.” He wrote something else down, as the front door opened and Cora’s voice echoed through the house from the front door.

“Fuck you asshole, and you can quote me on that!”

Derek sniggered and Talia stood, meeting Cora as she came through to the dining room. “Cora, watch your tongue!”

“No mom, not when that dick outside threw himself on the bonnet of my car as I drove into the gate, and then he started shouting that I hit him on purpose!”

Jonathon stood up, a deep frown on his face. Cora turned to him and smiled, “Hi Jonny, I have a dashcam, stop stressing that much!” He exhaled loudly and she closed the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck, “ooh was that so super-duper stressful?” She mocked him in a baby voice and he retaliated by poking her in the ribs, eliciting a loud laugh.

“Don’t worry about me, just a poor itchy invalid coming through!”

Everyone turned to Laura who was hobbling into the room, leaning on one crutch.

“And you?” Jonathon looked towards her, watching her smile.

“If I say Kate ran over my foot, will it make this go away?” She was met by a chorus of laughter, and a sad, slow shake of Jonathon’s head.

“No, unfortunately that will just open a whole new can of worms.”

“Ah damn. Well, it was actually Cora, so I won’t press charges. For now.”

Cora laughed and went to make a couple more cups of coffee, everyone settling around the table as Jonathon explained how things were to proceed from here.

“I will make contact with Ms Argent and her lawyer later, and see exactly what it is she wants, but for now all I am aware of is financial remuneration and emotional support.”

“Yeah, support an emotionally unstable attention whore, what could go wrong.” Laura muttered under her breath to Derek, who smiled.

“Derek, I would advise you to hire security, as you should be aware that you will be hounded for information by anyone and everyone. Where is Stiles staying? You aren’t officially living in LA, correct?”

Everyone looked towards Stiles, who smiled and looked up to Derek. “Actually, we kind of moved in together last night.”

“WHAT!” Cora and Laura yelled at the same time, with Cora rushing over to hug Stiles, Laura grabbing her hand over Derek.

“Derek, Stiles, that’s wonderful!” They looked up to Talia, who’s voice sounded thick.

“Thanks mom.” He reached for her hand over the table, and squeezed it, before Jonathon cleared his throat.

“Congratulations, if I may ask how long you have been together?”

Stiles spoke up quietly, “just under a month.”

“Barely under a month,” Derek added.

“This might complicate matters, are you sure this is the right thing to do, right now? It might be better to wait, let things settle.”

Derek was shaking his head before Jonathon stopped talking, “no. I don’t want to wait, I won’t put my life on hold because Kate has decided to mess with me.”

Jonathon put his hands up, “it was only a suggestion. In that case, Stiles will also need security detail.”

“Can’t you request a blood test?” Jonathon looked towards Stiles, as she continued. “If she has a blood test, to show she isn’t pregnant. Won't that help?”

He shrugged, “that depends. If she isn’t pregnant, great. We will have to redo the test in a couple weeks to confirm negativity, but if she is pregnant? It won’t be Derek’s, but we can’t prove that without invasive tests, which Ms Argent has every right to not allow.”

“So we start with the blood test anyway, and deal with the rest as it comes?”

Derek nodded, “I think requesting a blood test now might be the best stand. Kate might back down if she feels threatened.”

Jonathon wrote on his paper again, nodding slowly. “I will request the blood test when I make contact later this morning. As always, do not talk to anyone, don’t even attempt to deny the pregnancy, don’t give out more information. Keep quiet, and if you don’t think you will be able to keep quiet, call me, no matter where you are, and I will help you out as much as I can.

“I think that’s all I need for now, but call me if you have any questions.” He passed a card to Stiles, “my number is on there.” He grabbed his papers, sliding them into his briefcase and stood, shaking Derek’s hand and then Talia’s, before she walked him to the door.

“So you guys are moving in together, huh?” Laura winked at Stiles who blushed.

“We pretty much already live together, and if she isn’t with me, she is living with you.” He grabbed Stiles’ waist and dragged her closer, “and I can’t have anyone stealing her away, so I had to make it official before you did!”

Laura laughed, “gross, she is like my sister! Besides, if I _did_ have a choice, you or her, you know she would win. I can wear her clothes.”

“Who’s saying I can’t?”

Stiles slapped her hands to her face, laughing uncontrollably at the idea of Derek in her clothes, followed by Laura’s gags and Cora’s signature cackle.

“Derek, no one even said you should wear her clothes, why the hell is that a deciding point?”

He shrugged, smirking.

“Shut up Derek. Stiles, do you wanna come with me to have my stitches out?”

Stiles frowned at Laura, “aren’t you a couple days early?”

She nodded, “I already called. They said if I go today, they will check to see if it’s ok, and then if it looks good they will remove them, if not, it's ok.  I'll go back later.”

“Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I want to spend the day with Stiles, I only got back yesterday.”

“So, come with. Then we can take my car, which you drove here, rude.” She spoke louder, trying to drown out Derek’s argument. “THEN! Then we can go to the beach house, and get your car, you can drive yours, Stiles can drive me to the hotel, and then you are free!”

Stiles looked at Derek and nodded, “you know we have to. It makes sense.”

He shook his head, crossing his arms.

“Fine, I’ll drive your car!”

“No!” Derek yelled at Cora, jumping up. “No one drives my car!”

“Except me.” Stiles mouthed to Laura who groaned.


	36. Chapter 36

As they entered the emergency ward again, Laura inhaled quickly, her steps faltering.

“What’s wrong?” Stiles grabbed her forearm, concern colouring her features. Laura just shook her head and continued walking, telling the receptionist she was there for stitches removal.

They had all been sitting for only a while when Derek’s phone rang, and he left them to speak to Jody, his manager, and barely a minute later the doctor called Laura in.

“Come with me?” Stiles looked at Laura’s pleading eyes, and nodded, a small frown settling on Stiles’ features. They walked in together, Stiles following closely as Laura was lead to an empty exam bed, where she sat and lifted her foot.

“Laura, it’s good to see you again.”

Stiles was paying no attention to the doctor, and smirked when Laura blushed and smiled, looking down at her foot.

“Hi, Dr Hunter.”

Stiles smiled at the doctor, and looked straight back at Laura’s face, her eyes dancing as she mouthed ‘behave yourself’ to her. She just shrugged, settling into the free chair at the foot of the bed as ‘Dr Hunter’ got ready to hopefully remove Laura’s stitches.

“So, Ellie, I wanted to ask you, remember when you lost that bet and you were supposed to go on a date that Cora would set up?” Laura clenched her jaw, narrowing her eyes at Stiles, who winked and continued. “I think we should remind Cora. I mean, you are here right now because of that bet.”

Dr Hunter looked up, a confused smile on his lips. “Is that so?”

Stiles started talking before Laura could, much her dismay. “Oh yes, she lost a bet with her sister, and it’s been almost 2 weeks, you really need to remind Cora, or I will.” She sat back, smirking at Laura’s frustrated look, which Dr Hunter noted.

“Why do you look so upset about that, Laura?”

Stiles bit her tongue to stop herself from giggling.

“Because, my sister is an awful judge of character, and would I ever want to be with someone, knowing she brought us together?”

His eyes met Laura’s and he shrugged. “I don’t know, if you did find the one you love, would you really hate that your sister brought you together?”

“Yes.” She deadpanned, making the doctor laugh.

“Just let me see your damn foot, woman.” She glared at Stiles as the doctor started removing her bandages, and she grimaced when he touched the underside of her foot. “Is that still sore?”

She shook her head, “more like tender. Sensitive.”

He nodded, taking a closer look before he put her foot down and clasped his hands. “I have some bad news, a little more bad news, and some good news. The bad news is, I can’t take those stitches out today.”

Stiles watched her face fall, and nodded a little.

“The good news, which I am hoping you will see as good news, is that I know how you can get your mind off of the bad news.”

Laura looked up at him, squinting slightly, “which would be?”

“Well, there is this amazing little Italian place around the corner from here, and their mushroom risotto is exactly what this doctor orders you to try. But, the other bad news? You have to go with me.”

Laura started laughing, and Stiles shoved her fist against her mouth so she didn’t make a noise. “That doesn’t sound too bad?” She flirted back, cocking her head to the side a little.

“Oh, but is it. You are depriving your poor sister from setting you up on a date.”

“Good god where do I sign up?” Laura joked, loudly, interrupted by Derek pushing the curtain aside and coming in.

“Sorry, so what’s the news?” He looked at Laura, his eyebrow perking at her flushed expression.

“She has a date.”

He turned quickly to look at Stiles, who was nodding manically.

“Wow, come in for stitches, leave with a date. Only you could manage that.” She shot her tongue out at Derek, and the doctor laughed.

“I can only assume you are siblings. I’m Dr Evan Hunter,” he stretched his hand to Derek, who  shook it.

“Derek, her younger brother. This is my girlfriend Stiles.”

Evan nodded, “oh yes, I noticed her. Hard to miss her, when she is sniggering and indirectly setting Laura up on dates.”

Stiles gasped, and Laura laughed, which ended when she heard WHY Stiles gasped.

“You think I did this? I can’t wait to tell Cora!”

Laura groaned, as Derek laughed and Evan looked slightly terrified at this dysfunctional family.


	37. Chapter 37

Derek took Stiles and Laura back to the beach house, jumping into his car and following Stiles to the hotel.

“Don’t tell anyone Stiles, I’m serious.”

Stiles placed her fingers to her chest, feigning shock. “I would never!” She laughed, dropping her hand, “of course I won’t, but call me, and let me know how it goes!” They hugged, Stiles passing Laura’s key to her and got into Derek’s car.

“Is there nothing you wanna grab from your room? You should probably just give the key card back.” He kissed her neck, smiling as she tensed and giggled.

“Already sorted, Laura is gonna pop up for me, there is barely anything left, and she will give it to me the next time she sees me.”

“Mmmm, smart and sexy, how the hell did I get so lucky?”

She laughed, resting her head back on the seat. “Let’s go home and see just how lucky you get.”

He laughed, kissing her quickly as he started up the car and took off for home.

“I might have a surprise for you later.”

She looked over at him, and poked his shoulder, “what is it?”

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”

She gaped at him, before she poked him one more time, “Der, tell me!”

He shook his head, “nope, we are going home, and then later I may or may not let you see it.”

“Oh my gosh you are so unfair!”

He pulled into the garage at home, knowing they only had an hour or so before his mother was expecting them to be there. He suppressed a smile, hoping that Stiles would be thrilled when she got there.

“So, what now?” She moved in close to Derek after he unlocked the front door, running her hands up and down his chest.

“I was thinking-“

“Why the hell do I always find you two like this?”

They both turned quickly to see Kate sitting on the stairs, a gun held loosely in her hand.

“Kate, what are you doing?” He slowly moved so Stiles was behind him, and she took the privacy of the expanse of his back hiding her to pull her phone out, about to call the cops when her phone rang, and she dropped it in fright.

“Thanks Stiles, you might as well drop yours too, Derek.”

He nodded, about to slide his hand in his pocket when Kate stepped up, “let me, sweetie.” She shoved her hand in his front pocket, and Stiles took a step back when she saw that Kate was DEFINITELY not feeling for his phone. “Hmmm, what’s this, Derek?” He jumped slightly, wincing as she laughed, finally pulling out his phone and putting it in her back pocket, also bending down to get Stiles’. “Go, sit on the couch.” She motioned with the gun and Derek nodded, making sure to keep himself between Stiles and Kate as he guided Stiles to the lounge. He could see she was freaking out, tears welling in her eyes.

“It’s gonna be ok,” he whispered, only loud enough for Stiles to just hear, and she nodded, sniffing.

They sat down, Derek making sure Stiles was as close as possible. If he could just get to the light switch…

“Kate, can I put the lights on?”

She looked at him from where she sat on the coffee table, and she shook her head. “Tell me what switch you want to flick sweetie.” He grimaced at her double entendre, but pointed to the switch close to the kitchen door. There were 3 switches, if she just touched the bottom one, he knew they would be ok.

“Please switch all 3 on.”

She shook her head, “no, sweetie, that will destroy the lovely ambiance, it’s getting so dark and cozy.” She turned to the light switches anyway, and flipped the top one, before she flipped it off and tried the second one, and Derek held his breathe. She looked up at the solitary light that turned on, and seemed to be content with the effect and began to walk back to the coffee table.

“No, uh, you didn’t try the last one!”

“Sweetie, I like this light. It’s not too bright.”

He nodded, “the bottom one switches on the dimmer light.” He was talking out of his ass, and he hoped she didn’t figure that out. She stared at him, the seconds ticking past, his stress levels increasing more, before she turned around and flipped the switch, looking around to see which light it had turned on.

“What light turned on?” She stepped further into the room, and Derek gestured to the light that was already on.

“All that does it turn the dimmer on that light.”

“So, what the hell was the reason you wanted it on, if it makes no difference? Fuck Derek, this is why we always fight, because you are an absolute idiot sometimes!”

He nodded, his eyes shifting to the clock on the wall. 3:27. He needed maybe 10 minutes, 20 tops. He quickly glanced at Stiles, who had half hidden her face behind Derek’s arm, and he could feel her trembling.

“I heard you are pregnant.”

She looked at him quickly, and cried out in anger, pointing at them with the gun. “Why, will that make it all better!”

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry, Kate, please, just, I-I’m sorry!”

As she opened her mouth to respond, his phone started ringing in her pocket. She reached down to grab it, smiling at him as she did. “Oh, look, it’s mommy!” She walked over to them, and pushed the gun against Stiles’ head, causing her to cry out, her arms coming up to try to protect her head before Kate slapped them down.

“Shut up! Derek, answer the phone sweetie, but if you say anything about what’s going on here, I will kill her.”

He looked up at her, his brow low in fear. He slowly grabbed the phone, clearing his throat before he answered. “Hi mom.” He went silent, listening to her as he looked up at Kate, who still had the gun aimed at Stiles. He couldn’t exactly answer the questions his mom was asking, not without alerting Kate. “Yes mom, we are home, we are fine. Stiles and I are just sitting on the couch, we, um, we might get dinner brought in.” He went silent, still keeping eye contact with Kate as she listened to every word he said, thankfully not able to hear his mother.

He noticed a small movement in the corner of his eye, and as his eyes tracked down to look at Stiles, she had jumped up, hitting Kate’s outstretched hand, causing her to drop the gun. Derek shot his hand out, distantly aware of someone shouting, and he reached for the gun, grabbing it before it hit the ground. He pulled Stiles out the way, again putting himself between them, and trained the gun on Kate, who was staring, dumbfounded, at the two of them.

“Give that back, Derek.”

He shook his head, gripping the gun a little tighter.

“Derek, it belongs to me, it belonged to my dad. Give it back.”

“I’m not giving it back Kate, you need to sit down, you need to calm down a little.”

Kate took two steps towards them when the front door banged open, a couple of cops running to them, one immediately subduing Kate, the other approaching Derek, who held out the gun for him to take. He turned to Stiles, who’s face was so pale, her lips trembling.

“Baby, are you ok?” He grabbed her cheeks, using his thumbs to rub against her temples, before he pulled her close and held her tight.

“Stiles?”

She pushed away from Derek slightly, her eyes wide as she looked over his shoulder at the doorway, tears immediately springing to her eyes as she vaulted over the couch, right into the arms of her father.

“Derek, baby?”

He walked over to his mom, hugging her tight, and then his dad when he got into the house.

“Oh, you are ok! I am so glad you are ok! And to think, you argued with me when I wanted that hidden alarm installed!”

Derek laughed, “I’m fine mom, but you were right, so thank you for the alarm.” He smiled as she relaxed, before he added, “Stiles was the one who got the gun away from Kate though.”

Everyone turned to Stiles quickly, who turned bright red.

“My daughter? I would have never expected anything different from this reprobate.”

“Dad!” She laughed, pushing his chest. “I still can’t believe you are here, when did you arrive?”

John looked over her head to Derek, who laughed a little guiltily. “Uh, this may have been that surprise I was telling you about.”

Stiles threw her arms around him, kissing him.

“Ah, Stiles, can you not do that?”

In response to her father’s pleas, she kissed Derek harder, giggling when he lifted her right off her feet.

 


	38. Chapter 38

A week had passed, the news of Kate breaking into Derek’s house had died down, and a blood test and ultrasound had proved that she was definitely not pregnant, of course. This, however, only preceded a whole new level of crazy.

Her dad ended up staying in her hotel room, saying that if this extravagant hotel stay would be his only one, he was going to milk it for every drop. The last Stiles had heard, he had asked Cora for a ‘manly’ manicure, and had taken up swimming yoga.

This wasn’t her problem though.

Laura had gone on that date with Evan, and Stiles was fairly sure Laura was head over heels for the guy. She did have to wear black fluffy slippers to her date though, because her foot had still been bandaged.

Cora had taken up to gagging whenever any of the ‘love-sick foursome’ got near her, so Stiles had decided to start throwing small items at her whenever she wasn’t looking. It was incredibly infuriating for Cora when she turned to see them all looking, with no one owning up to throwing the pen lid, or the hair tie.

Those weren’t her problem, either.

Stiles sat in the sun room, the sun high and bright above her, and she laid back on the floor, arms stretched out. She had already told her dad she was moving to LA, which he hadn’t been too shocked by, not after spending a couple of nights with Talia and Don, and experiencing their hospitality first hand, and witnessing how much Derek loved her. He even made a passing comment that he could be a sheriff anywhere.

She had enrolled in university, ready to pick up where she left off, excited to be starting again. There were a couple of special needs schools around the area, and she hoped she would be able to work and study at one of them.

This, again, wasn’t where her life seemed to be throwing her a curve ball.

“Babe?”

She lifted her head, still upside down and looked at Derek as he came into the sun room, and she smiled, inviting him to lay next to her. He grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles.

“Lift your head,” and as she did, he put his arm under her head, and she snuggled into his bicep. “I want to ask you something.”

“Do you now?”

“Mhmmm.”

She giggled, leaning over to kiss him, before she jumped up, offering her hands to him.

“We tried this before, you can’t-“

“Excuse you, I can so get your ass off the floor, but now I don’t want to help!”

She shrieked as he jumped up, grabbing for her as she took off running, trying to dodge his fingers, breathless by the time he caught her, holding her tight to his body.

“Marry me.”

She looked up him, a smile growing on her face, her eyes twinkling. “What?” She asked, breathlessly, wanting to hear it again.

“ **Agnieszka** Stilinski- ow!” he rubbed his arm where she had pinched him, her laughter bouncing off the walls around them. “I love you, and you mean more to me than anything, than everything in this entire world. You make amazing chocolate cake, and your singing makes my ears bleed-“ he laughed as he knocked her fingers out the way just before she pinched him again. “Ok, ok! You are the most incredible human being I know, and I want you to be mine for the rest of my life. Please, please say yes and be my wife.”

She lifted her fingers to his scruff, tears cascading down her cheeks, “yes, YES!” She kissed him, and he wasted no time in picking her up, her legs going around his waist as they laughed into each other’s mouths.

She opened her eyes to look down at him, and saw a tear stream down his face.

“I only have one request.”

He nodded, “anything, you know that.”

“I’d like a plus one invite for the wedding.”

He lowered his eyebrows, “I don’t think that’s how being the bride and groom works?”

She bit her lip, before she took one of her hands from his face, and slid it between them, resting it on her lower belly. His eyes tracked the movement, before he looked back up to her face, her eyes welling with new tears.

“It’s how this bride works.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, and good night!
> 
> Thank you all for sticking by me and my fic, I know the wait was long at times, but I hope I have more than made up for that in the last couple of days!  
> I absolutely loved writing this, even when I couldn't find the words you all so desperately needed.
> 
> xx


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